A Change of Plans
by sweetdreams70
Summary: While H.G. is planning the destruction of the world, her future children visit her. As she takes care of the children she finds herself questioning her plans and her future. H.G. now has new plans to work towards that include getting a certain curly haired Warehouse Agent to fall in love with her. Bering & Wells. Post episode 2.1
1. Chapter 1

After retrieving her locket and a few other items from the Escher Vault, H.G. settled in an apartment in Rapid City, SD. This way she could be within a few hours of the warehouse, but not be at too great a risk of running into any of the warehouse agents.

H.G. was putting a few things away in her closet when she heard a noise in the apartment. She exited the closet carefully and grabbed the umbrella to use as a weapon. She crept into the living room when she heard someone shout "Mommy" and three little children ran up to her and hugged her legs.

H.G. was stupefied. Who were these children? How did they get into her apartment? Slowly she untangled the children from her legs and bent down to talk to them.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" she asked. "How did you get in here? Who are you? Where are your parents?"

The children looked at each other and then looked at her. Then one of them spoke up and asked "Where are we Mommy? Where's Mama? Did you rescue Christina?"

At that last question H.G.'s stomach dropped. What did these children know about Christina? She hadn't heard Christina's name since she was bronzed. The mention of her name brought her grief back to the surface. H.G. just stared at the children. They called her Mommy yet she knew that she hadn't had any more children after Christina. They resembled Christina somewhat from when Christina was younger, however they each had green eyes, their hair was slightly lighter than Christina's, and their skin was slightly darker than her own. They mentioned rescuing Christina and H.G. didn't quite know what to think. She wanted to hope, yet she was also afraid to hope. She had her hope dashed so many times before.

"Wha...Hmhmmm," she cleared her throat and then finally said, "I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about. I've never met any of you before. I don't know who your Mummy is. And... uhm...what... uhm... what is it that you were saying about rescuing my Christina?"

The children looked at each other and one said to the other, "Do you think this was a artifact?"

Another child said "I don know but I want Mama," and her eyes started to swell with tears. She ran to H.G. and wrapped her little body around her and cried "Where's Mama... I want Mama."

H.G. took the child in her arms and tried to calm her down. She rubbed slow circles on her back and said "shhh it's ok... shhh... shhhh. I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to figure it out. But in order for me to do that I need for you to help me. Do you think you can be a brave little girl and help me?"

The little girl nodded her head then buried her head into H.G.'s body as H.G. continued to soothe her.

"Alright," H.G. said, "Why don't we start with your names. What's your name darling?"

She mumbled something into H.G.'s chest. "I'm sorry I didn't catch that," H.G. said.

Finally the girl lifted her head, and looked at H.G. with her green teary eyes and said, "I'm Charlie," then she buried a thumb in her mouth. H.G. continued rubbing soothing circles on Charlie's back and said, "that's good, you're doing very well Charlie." Privately H.G. mused that Charlie was a bit of an odd name for a girl and thought that it must be an abbreviated form of Charlotte or Charlene.

Then H.G. turned to the other two girls and noted that Charlie and one of the other girls looked as if they could be identical twins. Charlie and her apparent twin both had straight hair that curled just a bit at the ends. The the third child on the other hand had a head full of wild untamed curls. Each of the children had big expressive green eyes.

"What about you two? What are your names?"

The curly headed one answered for them both and said, "I'm Sasha and she's Alex. Why don't you member us Mommy?"

H.G. was sure that she was not their mother but answered, "I believe that's something we'll just have to figure out together. Where did you last see your mother before you appeared in this apartment?"

Charlie answered, "You and Mama were at home and then you left to go to the past and rescue Christina. We were gunna stay with Aunt Leena at the Bed n Breakfast but then the bad men came so Grampa Artie took us to the Warehouse. We were tryin' to hide but then Sasha tripped and then we were here."

H.G. learned quite a few things with what Charlie said. These children were familiar with the Warehouse, so either they were sent here as a way to capture H.G. or an artifact was involved. H.G. doubted that the Regents would ever allow children to be used during a Warehouse mission so that just left the artifact. The only question now was whether these children were from an alternate dimension, from the future, or created via artifact. H.G. also wondered whether she (or some alternate version of herself) was somehow their mother like they claimed or if this was just some case of mistaken identity. Then there was also the "Mama" that was mentioned which was also a bit puzzling. Perhaps the children were accustomed to calling their Nanny "Mama."

Then H.G. thought about the "bad men" that Charlie spoke of and dread settled in the pit of her stomach. Old grief, guilt, and maternal instinct rose up when she thought of the "bad men" that had taken her daughter Christina's life. While she still had a difficult time accepting that these children could possibly be hers somehow, she was determined to do her best to protect them from ever meeting a fate similar to Christina's. Then she thought somberly that if she succeeded with her plans for the world then she herself would most likely be the instrument of these children's demise. After-all, if the world is thrown into a new Ice Age, then millions of children would die. She didn't like to think of herself as the instrument of death to billions of people; however, she also still believed that the world deserved a fresh start apart from the damage that was wrought by mankind.

H.G. felt conflicted; and that's not something she wanted to feel regarding her plans. Although nowhere in her plans did she think she would come across three little girls that called her "Mommy." She decided not to think on those plans too much at the moment. She had bigger things to worry about right now. Like for example, what to do with these girls that were looking to her to help them get back to their "Mommy" and "Mama."

"Is there any particular item in the Warehouse that you remember touching before you came here?"

Each of the girls shook their head. "No Mommy, we were going to go to your section in the Warehouse but then I tripped and I don't know what artifact I fell on before we got here," Sasha answered.

H.G. looked at each of the girls and asked "So how old are each of you?"

They each simultaneously said "five," then Sasha further explained "We're triplets Mommy."

Charlie untangled herself from H.G. and said "I'm hungry. Can I have some chicken nuggets Mommy?"

H.G. didn't know what chicken nuggets were but responded with "alright, let me get my shoes on and then we can go to one of the restaurants around here."

H.G. soon learned that it was a bad idea to take three 5 year olds to a restaurant. Things were fine at first, but as time wore on the children got more and more antsy. H.G. took the children to one of the restaurants that she liked to frequent for their soups and salads. H.G. was impressed when the girls proved their ability to read the menu without assistance. But the girls were upset when they didn't find chicken nuggets on the menu and they complained when none of the other options on the menu looked appealing to them.

Sasha started crying and Charlie joined in on the tantrum. "But I want chicken nuggets Mommy. You said we can have chicken nuggets."

"Darling they don't serve chicken nuggets here. But I assure you that the soup and salad is prepared very well. I'm sure that if you give it a chance you won't be disappointed."

"But I don't want a salad," Charlie cried. Sasha and Charlie were really getting loud in their cries and other customers were starting to take notice. H.G. didn't know how to respond. H.G. never really had to discipline Christina much because her governess had taken care of most of that. Of course there were the few times when Christina had been overly tired and everything just seemed to set her to crying. H.G. suspected that that was the case here with Charlie and Sasha and was just grateful that Alex wasn't joining in on their tantrum. Alex was distracted with a strange rectangular contraption in her hand. But then as H.G. was trying her best to calm Sasha and Charlie, Alex started to yank on H.G.'s sleeve and call "Mommy, Mommy" over and over again to try to get her attention.

"Just a minute Alex, I'll be right with you," H.G. said.

"But Mommy my phone isn't working. I tried to call Mama but it won't work."

Sasha and Charlie were still crying loudly and then Alex started to join in on the crying. "I want to talk to Mama," she cried, and then the cries just turned into a litany of "Mama," and "I want chicken nuggets," and "I don't want salad," and more "Mama, Mama, Mama," from all of the children.

One of the restaurant servers approached H.G. and said, "Ma'am I think it might be best if you step outside while you wait for the food. It will give the children a chance to cool off and won't disturb the rest of the customers."

H.G. was both angry and embarrassed. The nerve of the server asking her to leave as if he's never seen a crying child before. H.G. herded the children outside but that just made them more agitated screaming "No," "But I don't want to leave," "Okay, I'll be good," "I'll eat the salad Mommy, I don't want to go."

"Ma'am we'll have your food ready for you shortly," the server said as he was leading H.G. and the children outside to cool off.

It took H.G. a good seven minutes to calm their cries and reassure them that they were not leaving to go home hungry. They were just going to cool off for a while.

Then Sasha said, "After we're done cooling off and go inside, then can we maybe have chicken nuggets. Pleeeaaaaseeee" "Please, please, please," Charlie chimed in.

H.G. sighed exasperatingly. "They do not serve chicken nuggets here," she repeated for the Nth time. Then to stave off another tantrum she continued with, "But...we'll have to go to the store after we are finished here and if you all behave yourselves then we may get these...chicken nuggets...at the store if they're sold there."

"Yes!" Charlie was pumping her fist while Sasha was jumping up and down in excitement. Alex was just about to hand the phone over to H.G. when the server called them back in. H.G. bent down to Alex's level and said, "Alex I promise I will take a look at this when we get back home." H.G. could tell from Alex's expression that she wasn't happy with having to wait but she also didn't look like she was going to start crying again. To further appease her, H.G. scooped her up and carried her on her hip. The kids were really too old to be carried, but H.G. could tell that Alex really needed to be coddled at that moment. Alex snuggled into H.G. and remained that way until H.G. gently prodded Alex to release her so that they could both eat.

While they were all eating H.G. noted that another reason it was a bad idea to take three five year olds to a restaurant was because they were extremely messy when they ate. Granted it was quite difficult for a young child to properly shovel salad into their mouth; however, it seemed that more salad ended up on the chair, floor, table, and on their clothes, rather than in their mouths. The soup seemed a little easier for the girls to maneuver but it still ended up smeared all around their mouths, splotched on their clothes, and Sasha even got some of it in her hair. H.G. did her best to clean the girls off in the restaurant washroom before they headed to the store.

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At the store H.G. put Alex in the seat of the cart and instructed Sasha and Charlie to hold on to the side of the cart so that H.G. could keep track of where each of the girls were at all times. However, that only lasted while they were shopping for toiletries. Once they made it to the food section Charlie and Sasha started walking out in front of the cart in order to add the foods that they liked to the cart. Since H.G. had always had a maid to cook for her, she didn't really know where to start when it came to shopping for groceries. So she indulged Sasha and Charlie's little exercise of adding the foods that they liked. She also didn't want another meltdown due to not having something that they wanted. Although she knew that indulging every whim wasn't a good idea; she also knew that she was very much out of place in this world and was happy for the girls to provide their input so that she didn't have to think about it too much. She was a little skeptical of the freshness of the food items since most of the things the girls added to the cart came in bags and boxes. H.G. made sure to add a few fresh fruits and vegetables to the cart to ensure that at least some things were edible and familiar to her. She was nervous about providing meals for the girls since everything looked so foreign to her and she had no idea how to cook a proper meal.

Just when H.G. thought that they would be finished in the store, Alex asked her if they could buy some toys. H.G. decided that it was probably a good idea for the girls to have a few things to entertain themselves with so she told them that they could each pick out two toys. The next thing she knew the girls were running towards the toy section and H.G. was trying to keep up behind them to ensure that she didn't loose anyone. Her instructions to stay close and not to run in the store fell on deaf ears. It only took three minutes for her fears to be realized when she couldn't find the girls.

She was walking up and down each isle to look for the girls, and her heart rate and level of fear increased with each additional minute that passed. Finally she spotted Sasha but Charlie and Alex didn't appear to be with her. To keep herself from loosing Sasha again she scooped her up and sat her in the shopping cart seat. H.G. put the toys Sasha chose for herself into the cart and asked her if she knew where her sisters were. Sasha shook her head but told H.G. where she had seen them last.

Next H.G. found Charlie surrounded by a large stash of toys. H.G. scolded Charlie for running off and told her that if she wanted to keep two of her toys she had to stay near. Charlie cried that she couldn't make up her mind about which two toys were best and so she wanted all of the toys in her stash. H.G. was at the end of her rope and didn't have the patience to deal with another tantrum at the moment so she just grabbed two of the toys, put them in the cart and yanked a crying Charlie behind her. She had a difficult time pushing the cart and holding on to Charlie's hand so she released her hand and threatened that if Charlie didn't stay near she wouldn't get any toys. Thankfully Charlie didn't run off again, however she continued to bawl for the toys that remained in her stash.

Twenty minutes had passed and they still hadn't found Alex when H.G. heard a store announcement relaying that Alex Wells was at the front of the store and looking for her mother. H.G. was full of apprehension as she made her way to the front of the store to collect the child. When H.G. reached Alex she saw that the girl was crying really hard as one of the store clerks tried to console her. Alex ran up to H.G., hugged her legs, and continued to cry. H.G. was sure that she had never heard children cry as much as she did that day. Every time one child cried the other two joined in. She had no idea how she was going to survive her time with these children with her sanity intact.

The store clerk motioned H.G. over and showed her two very big boxes that he said Alex had refused to part with claiming that her mother had promised her two toys. When H.G. saw the size of the boxes she finally had to admit that in some alternate world she must have spawned these children. Because only a child of H.G. Wells would take instructions of two toys each and attempt to stretch those instructions to include two very big and expensive play sets. H.G. didn't have the energy left to argue anymore so she just added the boxes to the cart and made her way to checkout.

As they were exiting the store H.G. realized that she had no way of getting all the things she bought to her apartment, so she just took the store cart with her as they walked home. Thankfully the children all stayed within her reach and didn't run off. They were however tired to the point that they were frustrated and whining incessantly. The good thing about the children being so tired was that it wasn't too much of a hassle to get them into the bath, brush their teeth, and go to bed. H.G. realized that she didn't buy a change of clothes for the girls while she was at the store, so she put clothes, a step stool, and a few other items on a list to purchase the next day, and re-dressed the children in their underclothes.

Alex hadn't forgotten that H.G. had promised to look at her phone when they got home. So, as H.G. was tucking the girls into her Queen sized bed, Alex once again produced the phone to show to H.G.

The cell phone that James McPhearson had given to H.G. was very different from the phone that Alex showed her. So, H.G. once again found herself a bit out of her element. H.G.'s cell phone was simply a device that flipped open and had a few buttons on it to make phone calls. The cell phone Alex showed her had a touch screen with many little icons. H.G. looked at this device, not quite sure what any of the icons were or what made Alex believe that the device was malfunctioning. Thankfully Alex was quick to demonstrate for H.G. as she clicked on an icon, pulled up a list of names, and then clicked on "Mama" when an error message popped up saying that she was not connected to a network.

H.G. took the phone from Alex and explained to her that when the girls arrived in her apartment they arrived in what was either the past or a different world. So, that meant that in this world the girls weren't supposed to exist. So, there was no "Mama," and although H.G. would take care of the girls she also wasn't the "Mommy" that the girls knew and loved. At seeing the distress on Alex's face H.G. assured her that this didn't mean that they were stuck forever being without their Mama and Mommy. H.G. got into bed with the girls and pulled Alex close to her as the two of them looked through the pictures stored on her phone while Charlie and Sasha slept soundly next to Alex. Alex tried to stay awake and continue to look at the photos but it was a loosing battle and she quickly found herself joining her sisters in slumber.

H.G. on the other hand was utterly captivated by the photos on the phone and was unable to sleep as she continued to browse through the pictures. Alex had informed her that the phone had once been "Mama's" before she gave it to the girls to share. She recognized the woman that Alex pointed out as Mama on the phone as one of the Warehouse agents she ran across in London. Looking at a picture of the woman now, she was able to see pieces of her in her children. The girls' green eyes. Sasha's wild hair. Their skin coloring. However she was also able to see pieces of herself in the girls. This meant that some alternate version of herself had had children with an alternate version of the American Warehouse agent. Furthermore, flipping through the pictures she could tell that those alternate versions of themselves had built a happy life together. It was a little difficult for H.G. to wrap her head around this idea of a version of herself that was happy and loved. Based on what the girls had said earlier the H.G. in the pictures had still lost Christina, and yet she was able to build a happy life for herself. H.G. was riveted by those pictures and found herself looking through them for many hours through the night. When a message popped up indicating a low battery H.G. took out the charging cord for her phone and was pleased to find that it fit the device in her hands. H.G. finally let sleep claim her, as the phone lay on her nightstand, and hugged Alex close to her while listening to the soft breaths of the three girls.

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

H.G. was woken from her sleep by a loud blaring noise. She shot up in bed and noticed that the air smelled of smoke. She looked around and realized that the children weren't in bed. Quickly she made her way out of the bedroom and into the living room where she could hear one child crying, and the other two arguing while thick smoke rose from the stove-top.

"I told you that it was too hot," one child said.

The other responded with, "hey no fair, you're the one that put all that oil in the pan. This is not my fault."

"Yeah well it was your stupid idea to cook breakfast. We're going to get in trouble because I listened to you."

H.G. rushed into the room, took the pan off the stove and shoved it in the sink. Then she examined the device that was creating that godawful noise. "How do I turn this off?" she yelled over the noise at the two arguing children. Sasha ran to one of the chairs and dragged it under the device. "I think there is a button," she said as she climbed on the chair. She was about to jump up off the chair in an attempt to reach the ceiling when H.G. stopped her mid squat and lifted her off the chair. H.G. climbed onto the chair and pressed the button in the center of the device and the dreadful noise finally stopped. Then she approached the child that was crying, which she could now identify as Alex, and saw that she had a small burn blister on her arm. She carried Alex to the sink and ran cold water on her arm. When Alex's crying tempered down to sniveling and hiccuping she turned to the other two and said "Okay explain what happened."

Sasha cowered a little and her lip started to tremble. "We wanted to make breakfast for you as a surprise. But it wouldn't work right." She caved in on herself and tears rolled down her face when she mumbled, "I made the pan too hot." Then she straightened her shoulders and looked up at Charlie defiantly and said, "But it wasn't all my fault," she pointed at Charlie "she put too much oil in the pan." She turned to H.G. again and shyly asked, "are we in trouble?"

Charlie crossed her arms and glared at Sasha. H.G. took a deep breath of air, slowly released it, and then wondered how she was going to have any energy left after dealing with these children each day. She was still tired from last night, and didn't get nearly enough sleep since she stayed up late to browse through the phone pictures. Then she turned to Sasha again and saw the fearful expression on her face as she awaited her punishment and her heart just melted. She must be a masochist because as much as it was driving her insane to deal with these children she also utterly loved it. "I think that helping me clean up the mess you girls made in the kitchen will be punishment enough," she replied.

H.G. set up a chair in front of the sink for Sasha to climb onto so that she could reach the dishes properly. Then H.G. set up another chair for Alex and gave her a rag to wipe the counter-top. She followed the same procedure for Charlie at the stove. H.G. supervised as the three children sat their knees on their chairs and used their rags to smudge dirt around. H.G. knew that they were too young to do a good job of cleaning up but she hoped that the exercise would teach them the intended lesson.

When the girls were done cleaning H.G. was impressed that they had done much better than she initially hoped. There was still work left for her to do but at least the kitchen didn't look like a disaster zone anymore. She dragged the girls into the living room and told them to sit on the couch so that they could discuss some basic kitchen rules. H.G. pulled a chair in front of the couch and sat facing the children as she talked.

"You girls did a great job cleaning the kitchen. I'm very proud of you for that. And I really appreciate you wanting to make breakfast for me. But what you did was very dangerous and I can't allow you to do something like that again. You cannot work in the kitchen without an adult present. Do you understand that?"

The girls chorused "Yes Mommy." Then Sasha said, "But we were hungry Mommy. And we didn't wanna wake you so I thought that we could just make breakfast and surprise you."

"If you want a snack you can grab a piece of fruit," H.G. motioned to the fruit bowl, "Or you can let me know and I will prepare something for you. You girls are allowed to help me in the kitchen, but you are not allowed to work in the kitchen on your own. So I need you girls to promise me that you will never do that again."

The girls all nodded their heads.

"I need for you to say it," H.G. said.

"I promise not to work in the kitchen without you Mommy," Charlie said. "Yes I promise too," Sasha said and Alex chorused "me too Mommy."

H.G. grinned, stood up, and said, "Excellent, what would you girls like for breakfast?"

"Pancakes," they all yelled excitedly.

"And how does one make pancakes?" H.G. asked. Sasha ran into the kitchen and said, "I can show you Mommy," as she dragged one of the chairs to the pantry, climbed on it, and pulled out a box. "See you just follow these instructions," she said as she pointed to the box with a picture of pancakes on the front.

H.G. followed Sasha into the kitchen, pulled the box from her hands, and read the instructions. Then she pulled out the necessary supplies and closely supervised Sasha as she mixed the ingredients and dirtied up the kitchen again.

Prior to turning on the stove H.G. made sure to wipe down the stove-top a little more thoroughly to prevent any remaining grease from causing a fire. Then H.G. poured the batter onto a pan while Sasha watched. H.G. was proud of the stack of pancakes that she loaded onto a plate. She was thinking to herself that this cooking thing might not be so difficult after all.

However, when the table was set and they all sat down to eat H.G.'s pride deflated when she cut into her pancake and realized that the dough inside was still raw. Charlie took one bite of her pancake and said, "can I have cereal instead Mommy." "Me too," Alex chorused.

H.G. looked down at her plate in disappointment and said, "very well." Then she looked up and asked,  
"And how does one make cereal?"

This time it was Charlie that helped her. She ran up to the pantry, pulled out another box and said, "you just pour it into a bowl with milk."

H.G. smiled in relief when she heard the simple instructions. She grabbed four bowls poured some cereal into each of the bowls, then poured milk into each bowl with Charlie letting her know when the proper amount of milk was added.

H.G.'s relief at finally having done this correctly evaporated again when she tasted her cereal and realized that the sugary sweetness made this meal resemble dessert more than breakfast. She felt like a failure feeding her children this sugary concoction. She decided that tomorrow they would all eat eggs with bread for breakfast. At least the bread was already prepared and the eggs shouldn't be too difficult to make.

After cleaning up the kitchen they all headed to the store to buy the girls clothes and a few other essentials. H.G. lined the bottom of the shopping cart she took home with her the previous evening with a piece of cardboard. Then she turned to the children and lifted each of them into the cart to let them ride while she pushed the cart to the store. The children enjoyed the ride and H.G. had some piece of mind since none of the children could run off and potentially get hit by a car.

At the store H.G. marveled at how truly different each of the girls were. Alex and Charlie looked identical but their personalities were complete opposites that it was almost impossible to mistake one for the other. Alex was a bit reserved, loved to cuddle, and enjoyed the more stereotypical girly things such as dolls, dresses, and sparkles. Charlie and Sasha however were both fiercely independent. Sasha insisted on buying her shirts in the boys section since she loved Superman paraphernalia and hated anything with glitter on it. Charlie was fascinated with anything that could light up. So she was ecstatic when she found a shirt that had a glow in the dark design on it.

After the store H.G. took the children to a playground. As she watched the girls act wild and run around she couldn't help but think about how Christina would have fared in this world. Children and adults alike in the Victorian era were always expected to behave a certain way. The rules were repressive and didn't allow people to act as freely as H.G. had observed of this modern era. Women here were free to dress in either trousers or skirts. If it was hot outside it wasn't considered taboo to wear lighter clothing that left some skin exposed. Children were allowed to run around, get dirty, cry, and do all the things that were completely normal and in their nature to do. Seeing the freedom in this world made H.G. regret the way that she had raised Christina. H.G. had hated the rules of Victorian society, yet she had allowed a governess to rear Christina with those same rules. Yesterday the children had mentioned that some alternate version of herself had gone into the past to rescue Christina. This thought made her yearn to see Christina run around as freely and unrestrained as her sisters.

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That night, as H.G. cleaned the mess in the bathroom the children had made during their bath, she thought to herself that aside from the scare with the smoke detector in the morning, the day had gone much better than she had anticipated.

After the playground they went home and spent some time enjoying their new coloring books. Aside from getting a little competitive over who colored the best the children had mostly behaved themselves that afternoon. The night time bath was successful as none of the kids had drowned. Although, H.G. mused that it would have been near impossible to drown since there was now more bathwater on the floor than what was left in the bathtub.

During their bath the kids had played a game pretending that they were on a boat in the middle of the ocean during a storm. So, they had swung their bodies back and forth and splashed their hands to create the storm waves. Naturally, this left the mess that H.G. was currently busy cleaning up.

The children were squealing happily with laughter in the bedroom when suddenly there was a loud crash followed by crying. H.G. ran into the bedroom and froze when she saw blood running down Sasha's face. Oh God there was so much blood. H.G. was terrified. She wanted to run and help Sasha but her body didn't seem to want to cooperate with her as she remained paralyzed where she stood.

Charlie and Alex stopped jumping on the bed and rushed to help their sister. Alex hugged Sasha and tried to calm her cries as Charlie ran into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and pressed it to the side of Sasha's head. Finally, H.G. moved to tend to the girl. She scooped Sasha up into her arms and made her way to the bathroom. But before exiting the bedroom she turned to Alex and Charlie and said in a no nonsense voice, "I better not find you girls jumping on the bed when I return or there will be trouble."

H.G. knew she would have to remove the towel to inspect the wound but she was terrified of what she would find. While she continued to press the towel to the side of Sasha's face, she used a wet washcloth to wipe the blood away from the rest of Sasha's body. Then with a shaking hand she slowly removed the towel to inspect the wound underneath. She was relieved to find that the wound was actually quite small. Sasha had hit a sensitive spot that produced a lot of blood but didn't cause a lot of damage. H.G. calmed both herself and Sasha as she held the child close, rocked her body back and forth, wiped her tears away, and kissed the top of her head.

When H.G. returned to the bedroom Alex wrapped her arms around H.G.'s legs and asked if Sasha was okay. H.G. took one of Alex's hands in her own and led her to the bed while she carried Sasha on her hip and relayed that Sasha would be fine. Sasha swung her arm out to hit the post of the headboard when she reached striking distance. Although the impact hurt her arm she felt somewhat vindicated as her hand struck the post that had caused her head wound. She glared at the offending item for daring to cause her pain.

When H.G. put the girls to bed she had Sasha tucked into her right side while Alex snuggled her left side. As H.G. wrapped her arms around the two girls she wondered what would happen when all three girls needed to be hugged and soothed at the same time. She only had two arms, so did that mean that one of the girls would have to soothe herself while her mother tended to the other two? H.G. decided that she needed to do some research on parenting triplets to better prepare herself for the involved challenges.

She also realized that their current sleeping arrangement would need to change. While the queen sized bed was able to fit them all, it was also too high off the ground for the girls. H.G. knew what she needed to do, but she had been reluctant to act. Tonight's accident showed her that her reluctance had the potential to harm the children. So, H.G. decided that tomorrow she would convert her office into a proper bedroom for the girls. She had no idea how long the girls would be with her, but she shouldn't punish the girls for that by keeping them in limbo. She needed them to properly settle here, even if their stay was temporary, so that they weren't constantly moving from one misstep to the next.

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

AN1: In this chapter we can see the relationship between H.G. and the girls transforming. H.G. has gone from dealing with one crisis after the next, to settling a bit more firmly in her role as the children's mother. Without the constant crises H.G. is left with more time to contemplate her current situation.

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It has been one month now since the girls have come to live with H.G. and they have finally settled into a routine. H.G. found that converting the office into a children's bedroom was one of the best decisions she's made regarding this situation. Having the children entertain themselves in their bedroom for a few hours each day freed up some time for H.G. to actually conduct some research. Which led her to her awesome new laptop computer, the second best decision she's made since meeting the girls. At first the computer had frustrated H.G. to no end since she felt completely lost on what to do with the damn computer. The girls had helped tremendously with H.G.'s adjustment to the modern times. And now that she could navigate through some of the basics, H.G. was positively smitten with all the advancements that modern technology had to offer.

That was not to say that H.G. was able to conduct her research uninterrupted while the girls tended to themselves. Quite the opposite in fact. There were constant interruptions. There were fights to mediate, snacks to prepare, and an endless stream of hugs, kisses, tickles, and tummy rubs to dole out when attention was sought. But there were also times like the current moment H.G. found herself in where the girls were busy working on a craft project in their bedroom and H.G. was free to browse the internet. Her current topic of research was childhood asthma.

At the playground three days ago Charlie had had an asthma attack. H.G. thanked her lucky stars that Sasha was familiar with the situation and acted quickly as she ran to H.G. grabbed an inhaler from one of the kids' jacket pockets and tended to her sister. H.G. was later informed that both Charlie and Alex had asthma, although it was a very mild case of the disease. H.G. learned that triplets were usually born prematurely and were therefore at a higher risk for asthma. At the time of the asthma attack H.G. had been beside herself thinking that she was going to witness another child of hers die. However, through the research she had conducted she found that it was actually quite rare for people to die of asthma.

H.G. found that it was easiest for her to split her research into two distinct categories. During the day, while the girls were awake, H.G. would research topics related to parenting the triplets. Then at night when the girls were asleep, she would research the physics related to time travel, alternate dimensions, and anything else that could shed some light on how to rectify the current situation. Even though the girls were less likely to interrupt her nighttime research, H.G. was making much more progress in her daytime research. Part of this stemmed from a lack of motivation and fear towards making progress in sending the girls home. The other part was a lack of useful information about the field. There were no personal accounts of people that have successfully traveled through time or dimensions, so all H.G. had to go on were theoretical ramblings that were quite difficult to understand.

Based on what the girls had said, their Mommy and Mama had traveled to the past in order to rescue Christina. This led H.G. to believe that physical time travel was possible. However, everything she had read thus far had led her to understand that doing anything to change the past would spawn an alternate timeline that existed parallel to the previous timeline. So, while traveling through time may have been possible, traveling between dimensions would be much more difficult if not impossible. This made H.G. wonder how an alternate version of herself could have traveled to the past to rescue Christina without jeopardizing her current timeline. If Christina hadn't died then H.G. wouldn't have been bronzed, which meant she wouldn't have ended up in the 21st century, which meant that the triplets never would have been born. H.G. didn't believe that she would ever do anything to erase her children from existence, so the only way to successfully rescue Christina and preserve the current timeline was to fake Christina's death.

Thoughts of altering the timeline terrified H.G. because she realized that the arrival of the triplets in the current time has already had irrevocable consequences. When H.G. arrived in the 21st century she had been determined to send the world into a new ice age. She wished that she could say that she changed her mind because she saw reason and realized the folly of her ways, but that simply wasn't true. H.G. Wells ceased her plans of destruction because she loved the three little girls that have interrupted her life so completely. Now that H.G. has met the triplets she couldn't possibly think of ever doing anything to jeopardize their existence.

H.G. glanced at the clock on the bottom of her laptop screen and realized that it was approaching lunch time. She shut down her computer and went to the kitchen to grab four microwavable meals from the freezer. While she preferred fresh foods over the frozen meals that have become a staple over the past month, she was also immensely grateful that frozen meals existed for people like her that were utter failures in the kitchen. Although she must admit that she has improved in leaps and bounds compared to where she once was. Her kitchen abilities have grown to include frying eggs, making oatmeal, and boiling spaghetti. She also made a salad each day so that at least one item on the kids' plates weren't prepared from a box.

After the meals were done heating in the microwave H.G. walked into the kids room to inform the girls that lunch was ready. She saw a mess of paper scraps and clothes throughout the floor. Charlie looked up and said, "Mommy we're building magic tricks... see," she pointed to her craft book which was open to a page with instructions on building a box with a false bottom.

"Mmhm," H.G. responded, "and the clothes all over the floor," she questioned, "what are they for?"

It was Sasha who responded, "well you see we wanted to put on a show for you, but we had to find something to wear for the show and it was really difficult to decide. I think we have it sorted out now though."

"Well you need to put your project down for a little while since lunch is ready and we have to go to the vision center after lunch to pick up your glasses Sasha."

When H.G. noticed how much Sasha had been squinting, she had made an appointment at the vision center and wasn't surprised to find out that Sasha needed glasses. She had been worried that Sasha would become self conscious about having to wear glasses but was pleased to find that the opposite was true. Sasha thought that wearing glasses was cool because with glasses she could be like Clark Kent "and you know Clark Kent is Superman Mommy, so that means I get to be like Superman," she had said in excitement.

As they ate, the food that was smeared around the kids mouths and splattered on their clothes didn't even phase H.G. anymore. She had grown accustomed to the impossibility of keeping anything clean with three 5 year olds around. Trips out of the house were now always accompanied by a bag of tissues, wet wipes, snacks, toys, and other necessities.

"Mommy, do you think Mama will like the glasses we picked out?" Sasha asked when she was done eating and bouncing in her seat in anticipation of picking up her Superman glasses (they were just normal black rimmed glasses but she insisted that they were Superman glasses).

H.G. slowly put her fork down and looked at Sasha's expectant face. "I'm sure that she will love your new glasses," H.G. responded. The air in the room suddenly felt thicker to her. H.G. hated these little reminders that the children had another home that they missed and yearned to go back to. She wished that she could keep the children with her forever. This whole situation wasn't fair to her. These weren't just some random children that were dropped in her lap anymore. This past month these children had become hers. She loved them with all her heart and couldn't imagine being parted from them. H.G. knew that if these children were removed from her care, she would be left devastated. In moments like these H.G. really hated the triplets' parents for running off and leaving them in this situation.

Sasha however was unaware of H.G.'s current change in mood when she asked, "Do you think Mama will wear her glasses more often now because I will have glasses too? So that we can match you know?"

"I don't know darling," H.G. said, "I'm sure if you asked her to she would be happy to do so."

Then the question she most dreaded and had hoped to avoid today was asked.

"Mommy, when is Mama coming back?"

H.G. swallowed the lump in her throat and pasted a fake smile on to her face as she said, "I'm sure she will come to get you soon my darling. I'm sure your mothers would move heaven and earth to find you if that's what it would take."

Thankfully, no more questions were asked and the rest of lunch and the trip to the vision center passed uneventfully. Although thoughts of the triplets' parents continued to nag H.G. throughout the day and left her feeling as if she were viewing each moment with the girls through a veil. She was constantly plagued with doubts and questions about this situations permanence. First she had to wonder when the other shoe was finally going to drop. Then she was left to wonder if perhaps this situation could be permanent after-all but she would be left living her next foreseeable constantly waiting for the shoe to drop.

When the children returned home they were excited about putting on a show for their Mommy. H.G. sat on the couch in the living room with the lights dimmed. Then Charlie walked out while Alex pointed a flashlight on her in the background. H.G. understood that this was meant to function as a spotlight and applauded the children's creativity, however, a flashlight made a pretty poor replacement for a spotlight and so she hoped that the rest of the show wouldn't continue in the near dark.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Charlie began and made a sweeping motion with her hands, "Tonight we will bring you magic from a place of endless wonder. We will present music and dancing from our most talented performers and shall conclude the evening with a magic show that will leave you questioning all the things you thought you knew. Let the show begin." She made a flourishing motion with her hands as Alex turned off the flashlight. H.G. had to admit that she was very impressed with Charlie's showmanship and ability with words. In Charlie she could detect a future fiction writer in the making. H.G. beamed with pride thinking that those were her genetics shining through in her progeny.

Some music started playing from her laptop speakers when the light flashed on and the girls entered the room. H.G. blinked multiple times trying to get rid of the stars in her vision that were caused by the sudden change in lighting. When her eyes finally adjusted she couldn't help but grin at how adorable her little girls looked as they danced to the music. Alex was the only one that was dancing properly to the beat while the other girls tried to follow her directions. It was clear that Alex had choreographed the routine but sadly dancing didn't seem to be Sasha or Charlie's forte. The girls had a difficult time synchronizing their movements. The frustration on Alex's face when she realized that her hard work of choreographing the show was wasted on her uncoordinated sisters was hilarious to watch. But to H.G. this show beat anything she could have seen on a professional stage, because these were her children and to her they were perfect and their performance was priceless.

After the dancing had concluded. Sasha stepped forward in Charlie's glow in the dark shirt and a top hat constructed of paper. Charlie and Alex positioned themselves on either side of Sasha as her magic assistants. Needless to say, there was nothing riveting about the magic tricks that were performed. However, H.G. was still very pleased with the show that the girls had put on for her. She shined with pride thinking that her children must be the most talented she's ever come across. So what if they were tone deaf, uncoordinated, and clumsy. To her they were child prodigies.

After the show, H.G. instructed the girls to go clean their room which was accompanied by much whining and bargaining. However, H.G. remained firm in her stance and the girls morosely shuffled into their room. The girls spent more time crying about having to clean up than it actually took to clean the mess, but eventually the mess was cleared away and the girls were tucked into their bed as H.G. sat down with them and read them the next chapter of "The NeverEnding Story." H.G. had to admit that she enjoyed this story almost as much as her daughters did. The girls' enthusiasm for the story had H.G. contemplating going back to writing fiction and perhaps even writing a children's novel next.

After the girls drifted off to sleep H.G. was left pondering the conundrum that they found themselves in. H.G. had a hard time believing that she would ever let her children go an entire month without her if there was another alternative. This led her to believe that there must not be another alternative. So, what would keep the children's mothers from coming to collect them if they already had a time traveling device at their disposal?

There were really only two answers that H.G. could think of and neither of them were pleasant. One possible scenario was that something happened to the girls' mothers that made it impossible to come and get them. Which meant that either they were dead, or they were stranded in another time. However, H.G. found it difficult to believe that they couldn't build another time machine if they had already succeeded once in creating such a machine. So that made dead more likely than stranded.

The other possible scenario was that the triplet's arrival to this time created a dimensional rift that caused a parallel timeline to form. And while the girls' parents had a machine that could travel through time, they did not have a device that could traverse dimensions. Exploring this scenario further meant that it was improbable that if a device was found that could travel dimensions, that the same device could also be used to travel through time. Since if the children's parents were capable of inter-dimensional time travel they would have shown up within the first week that the children were in H.G.'s care even if it had taken them six years to build the device. This meant that if the children's parents were alive and well, and her other assumptions were true, then the children would be stuck with H.G. until their parents found a way to travel through dimensions to retrieve them.

H.G. had briefly considered exploring ways that she could bring the children home but lost motivation with this idea. While one of the reasons was that exploring that possibility was simply too painful for her, it wasn't actually the main concern she had with the idea. Because, what if the first scenario were true and the children's parents were dead? Then the children were better off staying with her, than to return home to live as orphans. The other problem was that, even if their parents were alive, there were infinite alternate timelines and it would be impossible for H.G. to find the timeline from which the girls originated. The triplets' parents however wouldn't necessarily have the same problem since the artifact that the girls used to travel to H.G. would have left a trace behind that they could follow.

Thinking of the triplets' parents had H.G. pawing the cell phone Alex had shown her that first night. H.G. browsed through the pictures again. She stopped on a picture of the American Warehouse agent holding a sleeping Sasha against her chest. There was such tender care painted on the woman's face. H.G. knew that the love the woman in the picture held for her daughter was endless. She had meant it earlier when she told Sasha that she believed her mothers would move heaven and earth to get to her. She scrolled through a few more photos until she found a picture of the Warehouse agent wearing a pair of thick lensed glasses with a sly grin on her face. H.G. wished that she could know the cause of that sly grin. This was one of H.G.'s favorite pictures because the expression on the woman's face so resembled the grins her girls sent her when they did something they knew they shouldn't have but thought they had pulled one over her.

One week ago, H.G. had discovered a treasure trove of text messages on the phone that gave her some insight to the family's daily life. However, those text messages were like a breadcrumb that was used to feed a man dying of hunger. Those texts only fed H.G.'s envy and curiosity more. It was clear that the triplets' parents loved each other very much and that their relationship was a true partnership. H.G. yearned for something like that. She contemplated orchestrating a meeting with the American Warehouse agent once her situation with the girls was a bit more settled.

To be continued

AN2: Thanks to all of you who follow this story. It makes me happy to know that people are interested in reading what I write. But since this is the first story I'm writing I would really appreciate some feedback. So please post a review if you have the time. It will be much appreciated and provide more motivation for me to write.

AN3: (Warning spoilers to the rest of this story) As I've alluded to throughout this chapter, the next chapter is finally going to bring this situation to a head. But don't fear, there will still be plenty of stuff left for this story. The story has three parts. Part I is H.G. meeting the girls. Part II is H.G. pursuing Myka. And I don't want to spoil Part III. So when I say that the situation is going to resolve itself a bit in the next chapter that just means that the story will be transitioning from Part I to Part II.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thank you all for reading. To those of you who have left reviews, I really appreciate it. Reviews really provide awesome motivation to write.

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Squeals of laughter could be heard throughout the apartment as H.G. chased behind the girls. She caught Charlie and rained kisses on her as she tickled her. She loosened her grip pretending to loose focus so that Charlie could escape her and they could start the chase all over again.

Charlie scrambled over to her sisters. "Hurry let's run before the kissy monster catches us," Sasha said and grabbed her sister's hand to pull her to their bedroom to strategize their next move.

H.G. hid in the hall closet to add a sense of mystery to the girls' game. She couldn't believe it's been over three months since the girls have come to live with her. She has made many positive changes since the girls arrived. Microwave dinners went from being a main source of food to a crutch that was relied on during rainy days. Dinners now involved a big production of everybody gathering in the kitchen to prepare something delicious together as a family. H.G. had taken the time to use educational opportunities when they arose so that the triplets' minds were properly stimulated and they could learn valuable lessons. Lesson plans and coordinated learning activities have become a regular part of their everyday schedules.

An unfamiliar whirring noise could be heard in the living room. The noise made H.G. uncomfortable so she exited her hiding space in the closet. H.G.'s eyes were blinded by a bright light surrounding the living room. When her vision finally readjusted she could see three visitors standing in the living room. Two adults one of which she recognized from the triplet's cellphone photos and the other which she's seen in the mirror each day. Last but not least there was a girl which she had believed dead in France and never imagined seeing again. Her arms itched to engulf Christina as she stood alive in her living room. Then the triplets opened their bedroom door and barreled towards the two adult women.

"Mama, Mama," they yelled in excitement as they hugged the Warehouse agent. H.G. knew the implication of the women showing up in her living room, but it took seeing the girls wrap their arms around their parents for her to properly grasp the concept. Then her world came crashing down around her as realization hit.

"No," she said firmly. The girls turned to her just now realizing that there were two versions of her in the room.

H.G. looked at her mirror image across the room and repeated, "No. You don't get to do this." Tears started to roll down her face when she elaborated, "You don't get to take my family away from me."

Her duplicate looked like she was about to speak but H.G. held up her hand to stop her. "Three months," H.G. yelled. "It's been over three months that those beautiful little girls have been my daughters and I have been their mother. Where were you those three months? I was prepared for you to come that first month, but this...now...this is just cruel."

She collapsed in on herself and cried in earnest. She would be left with nothing, more broken than she's ever felt in her life. She wouldn't even have her stupid little plot with the Minoan Trident to fall back on anymore. And she knew that there wasn't anything that she could do, nor anything that she would do if given the chance, to stop this from playing out exactly as it would. She loved her girls and wouldn't do anything to deprive them of their parents. The girls would return to their parents, while they left her alone to rot in her own misery. And to top it all off they got to live a happy future with Christina as well, because, of course the women that had everything succeeded in their plan to get even more.

Watching H.G.'s world falling apart broke Myka's heart. "Helena," she said, but then stopped herself from saying anything more when she glanced at a calender and realized that there really wasn't anything more she could say to make this situation any better.

H.G. glanced up in surprise when the curly haired woman called her name. It had been so long since she's heard someone call her by that name. After her brother had published her first few novels her friends and family that knew her well had called her H.G. She had come to prefer H.G. over Helena because "H.G.", unlike "Helena", wouldn't be judged by her gender before an introduction had even been made. She had preferred her gender to remain ambiguous to those that didn't know her lest some gender stereotype devalue her work before it had even had the opportunity to be properly appraised. Now that she thought on the names of the triplets she realized that each of their names were ambiguous in regards to gender. When she had first met them she had assumed that their names were shortened versions of more typical girl names, but now she doubted that to be the case. Their names were complete as they were, purposely left vague, so as not to cause any dreams to fail based on something as simple as a gender stereotype. Yes, she'd preferred H.G. to Helena, but when the American agent said her name it had never sounded so sweet to her. She could see how her doppelganger could have fallen in love with this woman.

The spell was broken when that doppelganger - no not dopplganger... it's Helena now - she thought to herself, spoke. "I know that you feel hopeless and alone right now. But all is not lost. This can still be your future someday. And just think how much better it will all be when you're there to experience all of it from the beginning."

H.G. glared at the woman [ugh...Helena] angrily. "Oh please spare me the motivational pep talk. I'm not stupid you know. If you were from my future you would have shown up within the first week of the children's arrival. I know you're from an alternate dimension. I don't care for your simpering hogwash, because frankly you have no idea what's in store for my future. So, please, excuse me for wanting to hold on to the last concrete dregs of my happiness. Can I please have a moment with the girls to properly bid them farewell?"

Helena was about to say something else, but Myka put a hand on her arm to stop her. Myka turned to Christina and said, "I think it would be best if you joined them in the other room. She could probably really use a hug from you right now."

When Myka turned back to look at Helena, Helena could tell that there was something that Myka needed to talk to her about in private. So they waited for H.G. and the children to congregate in the kids bedroom to give them the privacy to speak.

"I think we just need to get her to realize that this is a future that she can still obtain," Helena said. "I know that it won't be exactly the same as what we've had, since there are bound to be differences between worlds, but I would think that some semblance of this would easily be possible."

"It's not though," Myka said.

Helena had no clue what Myka was talking about, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Helena, look at the date," Myka said as she motioned to the daily calendar that sat on the countertop.

"It's November 15th, 2010, so what?"

"Don't you remember," Myka said, "At this time in our past we were working on that wrestling team case, you know, the one with the energy drinks that caused people to spontaneously combust."

So what? - she thought at first. Having small differences between the timelines shouldn't be too big of a problem. Then she thought of the full implications of everything that had happened on that case.

"Oh God," Helena said, even though she lost belief in God a long time ago. She thought of Claudia in an ice-bath waiting to die. Then she put her hand on her grappling gun when the full weight of the situation finally set in. My God, Myka, she thought.

When Myka saw her reach for the grappling gun she understood that Helena finally came to realize that in this world, H.G.'s future had the potential to look quite different indeed; because if H.G. hadn't been there to pull Myka away from impact with an oncoming car, then this world's Myka might not be around to provide H.G. Wells with the tether she needed to build a new home for herself in the 21st century.

"Myka, if you d...," she couldn't even say the word out loud. Tears welled in her eyes just thinking about it. She decided to talk around the issue instead. "If she looses the girls, then looses you and any possibility of their existence in her future, then she won't have any hope left at all. She could become a very dangerous person to this world," she said.

"Then we have to make sure that she has no real inklings of the future," Myka said. "She won't have to feel the loss if she doesn't know anything about it. Take away her memory of her time with the girls; and hope she won't fall back on her previous plans with the Minoan Trident."

A spark lit Helena's mind when she thought about Christina. "Perhaps I can give her at least one hope for the future," she said.

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In the girls' bedroom H.G. was at a loss for what to do. She couldn't think of anything other than the fact that this might be the last time that she saw her children. The river of tears that were streaming down her face showed no sign of stopping.

Sasha turned to H.G. and said, "Mommy there is too of you."

H.G. smiled at her precocious little girl.

Alex and Charlie had been introducing themselves to Christina in the corner of the room but turned around when they heard Sasha's statement. Charlie gasped and asked excitedly, "Mommy are you a twin?" The idea of her mother having an identical twin fascinated her. That way, she and Alex wouldn't be the only identicals in the family.

H.G. swiped at her tears and couldn't help but laugh weakly at the never ending supply of entertainment that these girls provided her with.

Then she turned serious again and said, "No, right now you just have two Mommies and a Mama. But soon you will go home with your Mommy and Mama. And you see that makes me very sad because I can't come with you because there shouldn't be two of me in one place, and I'm just going to miss you so very much."

She hugged the girls close to her and continued to cry. The girls tried their best to hug her tight and soothe her.

"Well perhaps we can come visit you some time," Sasha said.

"Sasha, you are so very thoughtful and creative, please don't ever change," H.G. said. Then she turned to Charlie and said, "And you Charlie, you are as stubborn as a mule, yet I utterly love that about you." Finally she turned to Alex and said, "Alex come her my little cuddle bug. I can always count on you to give amazing hugs."

H.G. laid down on the children's bed and pulled the girls close to her. They all laughed a bit when the girls piled on to make a giant people sandwich. H.G. turned her head to see Christina looking a bit lost while she observed them from the corner.

H.G. still had a hard time believing that Christina was there. She had no clue as to how to approach the situation and her brain really couldn't properly function at the moment because all she could think about was the fact that she was about to loose everything all over again.

"Come join us Christina," H.G. said, "I know that you too will soon leave here to start your new life with your new family in the future, but that doesn't mean that you aren't still my daughter as well."

When Christina shyly walked up to the bed and joined in on the hug H.G. finally felt complete. It was as if the more weight that was added to the hug, the more weight was lifted from her shoulders. All the years of grief finally culminated into this amazing moment in the here and now. And it took three children from the future, and one child from the past, to finally make H.G. feel completely tied to the present.

When they all disentangled themselves and raised from the bed the blissful moment was lost. H.G. pulled each one of the girls into a hug once more, ending with Christina (she had just gotten Christina back; she really wasn't prepared to let her go again). Finally she released Christina and stood tall to exit the room and face the future.

She never would have imagined that the future would end up hitting her with a tesla as soon as she exited the kids room to step into the living room. Well to be more precise it wasn't so much the future that hit her, as it was a future alternate version of herself. But precision of language wasn't exactly her top priority as her body froze in paralysis, her mind went blank, and she dropped to the floor unconscious.

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H.G. felt a headache approaching as she regained consciousness. She recognized the effects of artifact interaction. She groaned and cracked her eyes open, then sat straighter in shock when she came face to face with herself. She tried to recall the events that lead her here but came up completely blank. The last thing she recalled was setting up her new apartment after MacPhearson's death.

"Oh good you're awake," her look-alike said.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" H.G. questioned. She groaned again and reached for her head, "Did you use an artifact on me?"

"Well, I'm H.G. Wells of course," her doppleganger answered, "but from the future. I figured you would have guessed that. And yes I'm afraid you did come in contact with an artifact that is probably causing you a bit of a head ache. Fear not, the pain should subside within the next few hours."

"Physical time travel is not possible," H.G. answered.

"Well of course right now it isn't," her future self said. "But in the future, it is a very real possibility." She flourished her hands for extra effect as she spoke.

H.G. zeroed in on her hands and saw the wedding band. "You're married," she said in disgust. "I never thought that I would someday tie myself to a man and fall prey to that despicable institution."

"Ah yes, the institution of marriage actually suits me quite well. At least according to my wife it does," Helena said with a grin.

"Your wife?" H.G. questioned. "You're married to a woman?"

"Yes, isn't it wonderful," Helena said as she spread her arms wide as if to indicate all the amazing possibilities the modern times had to offer.

"If my future's so wonderful, then what are you doing here?"

And here came the difficult part, Helena thought. She had to come up with some convincing lies to rationalize the memory wipe that she performed, get H.G. to travel to Northern California to rescue Claudia, and give her enough hope for the future so that she wasn't tempted to use the Minoan Trident. She hated having to lie to another version of herself, but in this case it just couldn't be avoided. So she began to spin her tale like the talented story writer that she was.

"Oh well you see, I was tracking a rather interesting curiosity, when I happened across a particularly nasty organization that wanted to alter the past to wipe the Warehouse out of existence. I tried to reason with them and explain that the past could not be altered. But then they kidnapped Christina to try to force me to comply. They said that if the past couldn't be altered, then I shouldn't have a problem with them sending Christina back to the past in a coffin where she belonged. Suffice it to say that they didn't succeed in their plans, however, they left quite a bit of collateral damage in this particular point in time."

H.G. latched on to the story as soon as Christina's name was mentioned as Helena knew she would. "Christina is alive?" she asked in wonder.

"Yes, well I wouldn't go through all the trouble of finally creating a machine that made physical time travel possible and then not devise some way to rescue Christina, now would I? Yes, she's alive."

Something about this situation still felt off to H.G. She thought back to her previous train of thought before she had been distracted by mention of Christina.

"You used an artifact on me," she told Helena accusingly.

"So I did," Helena admitted. "As I mentioned earlier, my fight to preserve the timeline spilled over to this point in time. Some of the things you witnessed would have changed the future so I had to erase your memories of the event. Because, quite frankly, I like my life the way it is, and I don't need some thugs to mess it up now that I finally have Christina back with me. I will not put her life in jeopardy again."

H.G. mulled over the explanation that was provided. Something about it still felt off to her, but she also had the feeling that the part about Christina being alive in the future was true. So, she had to agree that she didn't want to mess anything up that could cost her a possible future with Christina.

She looked her future self in the eye and said, "prove to me that you are who you claim to be."

"Very well," Helena said with a bored tone, "you lost your virginity to Susanna Kensington, your first male lover was Harold Ashley, and you stole 4 shillings from Mother's pocketbook to buy books when you were 12, but Mother believed that Charles had stolen the money to buy tobacco and booze. Charles was punished and you never told a soul that you were actually behind the theft. Will that suffice?"

H.G. nodded. She had to agree that the only person that would know all of those facts was herself.

"Oh good," Helena said, "let's get down to business then, shall we."

Helena explained how H.G. was supposed to be in Northern California at the moment doing her best to prove her worth and regain her status as a Warehouse agent. She explained that H.G. may have to save Claudia's life and told her the steps to take if anyone received an abnormally large dosage of the tainted energy drink the wrestler's were drinking.

H.G. narrowed her eyes at the woman claiming to be from the future speaking in relative terms rather than presenting an absolute story. "If you're from the future, then why don't you tell me exactly what's supposed to happen rather than being vague about the whole ordeal?"

"Well, like I said earlier, the organization I was battling was able to cause some damage in this particular point in time. So some things at the moment won't be exactly the same but will be similar enough that the current future can still be saved," Helena said. She felt horrible feeding H.G. all these lies about a great future when she knew that she hadn't been there to save Myka from the car that had been headed her way.

"But if you have a time machine why don't you simply use that to correct the timeline?" H.G. questioned.

Helena wished it were that simple. If it were possible for her to take the time machine across dimensions and show up in Northern California to save Myka and Claudia's life, she would have done just that. Unfortunately that wasn't possible. Using the time machine to intervene would merely cause another alternate dimension to form; however, this dimension's H.G. would still be in exactly the same situation she currently found herself in.

"There were certain artifacts that were used that could not be counteracted by the time machine. I did what I could to secure the future. Now, I'm simply relaying what I must to you to ensure that the future plays out the way that was intended. Once you repeat those actions that originally took place, I can go home to my family as the timeline goes back to normal."

"Okay, I'll do as you've requested if you promise to destroy your time machine as soon as you return to your family. I don't need to go on with my life just to have this thing happen again next week because some other idiot decided to mess with the timeline."

"Deal," Helena agreed, "believe me, I have no intention of jeopardizing the future I've created with my family." She's seen enough of the consequences of intervening in the timeline. Afterall, if the triplets wouldn't have interrupted this timeline, then the woman sitting across from her truly would have been from her own past. As it were, their dimensions were now forever split and thus their futures diverged. She truly hoped that somehow, this H.G. could someday find the happiness in her own future that Helena has achieved in her life.

Upon concluding their discussion Helena handed H.G. her suitcase and plane ticket to Northern California and called her a taxi to the airport.

When H.G. left, Myka and Christina exited H.G.'s bedroom to join Helena in the living room. "Alex, Charlie, and Sasha are asleep in the master bedroom," Myka relayed. "Good," Helena said, "let's start removing all evidence that they were here shall we."

When Myka entered the kids room and saw the lengths to which H.G. had gone to ensure the children felt settled and loved she felt even more sad that she was about to remove the last shreds of that love. Helena and Myka worked through the night restoring the kids room to the office it had been before their arrival. When they were finally finished, they gathered all their children and activated the device that would return them to their own dimension.

To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Sorry it took longer than I initially anticipated to update this. I've been pretty busy with deadlines recently and am usually exhausted by the time I get home. Also, I wrote and edited most of this chapter while I was really tired, so I'm sorry if I missed a few spelling and grammatical errors.

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Claudia was frustrated as she searched through a dead college student's dorm room looking for clues on the artifact that could have caused his death. Everything looked like a normal college dorm to her. The detective shows on TV always made it look so damn easy. Hell, Pete and Myka made it look like a piece of cake with a side of fun. Ever since Claudia joined the Warehouse she had thought she found her home. She'd felt like everything in her life up to that point had perfectly prepared her for the Warehouse mission. Now that she was out on an actual Warehouse assignment she wasn't so sure of herself anymore. How was it that she was a genius at everything else, yet she completely sucked at this whole agent in training thing?

Claudia was about ready to give up in her search when she decided to check the student's dorm fridge. At first she didn't think anything of the energy drinks that filled the fridge. But then, thinking back on her previous interviews with the boys on the wrestling team she recalled that she'd seen them all consume this drink at some point. Claudia was an avid consumer of Redbull, Monster, and NOS to keep her alert for some serious all night video gaming sessions. Yet, she had never seen this brand of energy drink for sale anywhere. And what kind of name was Boiling Point for an energy drink anyways?

An internet search of the drink manufacturer showed that the CEO of the company was the same man she'd seen talking to the wrestling coach a few days ago. Excited to finally have found a connection Claudia pulled out her cell phone to call Myka. Myka had gone to the police station to follow up on the death of the wrestling coach. When Myka didn't answer her cellphone Claudia figured that she probably had her phone on silent, so she shot Myka a text about her findings. She quickly snapped a few pictures of the drinks in the fridge and the rest of the dorm room just to be thorough.

When Claudia still hadn't heard from Myka 15 minutes later, she decided to conduct a few interviews with some of the boys from the wrestling team regarding the energy drink.

The interviews confirmed Claudia's suspicions that the artifact was somehow in the drink. She also learned that the bottling plant for the energy drink was closing down and moving to another city to ramp up production. Claudia tried calling Myka again. When she still didn't get an answer she started to worry that something might have happened to Myka. She debated for a good 5 minutes what her next move should be. She took out her farnsworth to call Artie but Artie wasn't picking up his farnsworth. What was it with people not picking up their damn phones and farnsworths? 'Screw it,' she thought, she decided to go to the bottling plant to check it out. She sent Myka a quick text hoping that Myka would read it soon.

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H.G. had found out during her trip to London that she suffered terrible motion sickness on airplanes. So, her flight to Northern California had worn her out a bit. Now she stood outside of the bottling plant and tried to push away her exhaustion so that she could get done what she'd come there to do.

H.G. broke into the bottling plant to snoop around and search for the artifact. She heard a commotion and followed the noise while staying careful to remain out of sight. All of the sudden everything seemed to happen all at once. She saw a young woman fall into a large vat containing an orange liquid. This was the situation her future self had warned her about. She quickly ran to help the woman get out of the vat. When she laid eyes on Claudia she realized that she was hardly more than a child. H.G. helped Claudia stand and turned to the two men standing closest to her.

"I need for you men to take me to the nearest laboratory," H.G. said. "Hurry she doesn't have much time."

"And who are you?" the man in the white labcoat questioned.

"That's nothing you need to concern yourself with right now," H.G. responded. "The only thing you need to know is that I'm going to save her life. Now, you can either help me do that or you can stay out of my way."

The man in the labcoat continued to look at H.G. wearily, but his colleague in the business suit turned to her and said, "follow me. I'll take you to the lab."

H.G. hoisted Claudia up as good as she could and helped Claudia stumble along behind the man.

"Great," Claudia said, "I'm dying of some weird inferno juice, and the only chance I have of maybe making it out of this is in the hands of a killer."

"Yes well you don't exactly have the luxury to be choosy at the moment Ms. Donovan," H.G. responded.

Claudia took out her phone and was disappointed to see that she still hadn't received any word from Myka. Although she mused that she should at least be thankful that her dive into the juice vat hadn't destroyed her phone. H.G. loaded Claudia into a bathtub and instructed the businessman to dump cold water and ice on Claudia while H.G. searched around the lab for the tools she would need.

The scientist helped H.G. locate supplies and marveled at the way her mind functioned while she worked. H.G. got together an antidote in no time. She helped Claudia drink the medication when Claudia's phone went off. H.G. brought the phone to Claudia.

"Hello?" Claudia asked into the phone.

"May I please speak to a Miss Claudia Donovan?" the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

"This is Claudia," Claudia answered.

"Hi, I'm a nurse at Riverside Memorial Hospital, Ms. Myka Bering requested that you be contacted. Ms. Bering has been the victim of a pedestrian accident and is currently being treated."

"Oh my God, is Myka going to be okay?" Claudia asked as she tried to sit up straighter in the bathtub but found that she barely had enough strength to hold the phone, and couldn't really do much else, so she collapsed back in frustration. H.G. seeing Claudia struggle helped her to sit more comfortably.

"Ms. Bering was in critical condition when she was brought in. However, she's come through surgery to fix a collapsed lung and is currently in surgery to mend some of her bones. If all goes well within the next 24 hours, then barring other complications, she should make a full recovery."

After concluding the phone conversation Claudia scrambled to get out of the tub. "H.G. help me get out of here. We have to get to the hospital. Myka..." she cut herself off when she realized that the same person that had killed the wrestling coach was responsible for Myka's current condition.

"You," she said angrily as she turned to the scientist in the white labcoat. "You did this."

The scientist scrambled to his feet and turned to the door trying to escape capture. H.G. threw one of the lab instruments at his head knocking him unconscious. Next she tied his hands behind his back and asked Claudia how to get in contact with the local law enforcement. Claudia dialed 911 and handed the phone to H.G. as she felt exhaustion take over. Claudia slumped against a lab bench and fought to stay awake as she listened to H.G. relay the situation over the phone.

H.G. turned to Claudia when she hung up the phone and said, "the police should be here within 10 minutes."

Claudia sighed, then looked up and said, "We really need to get to the hospital. I want to be there for Myka when she gets out of surgery."

H.G. noted Claudia's weakened state and responded, "it would probably do you some good to be seen by a doctor as well." Then she turned back to the scientist and secured his hands to one of the heavy pieces of machinery in the laboratory. "Do you think you might be able to lend us the services of one of your employees to drive us to the hospital?" H.G. asked the company CEO in a tone that implied that she should not be denied her request.

"Yes of course, I'll get right to it," the businessman replied.

When the businessman returned with a young man trailing behind him, H.G. turned to Claudia and said, "OK let's go get you to the hospital."

"Shouldn't we wait until the cops come?" Claudia asked with a pointed look at the handcuffed scientist.

"As you've mentioned before Ms. Donovan, I have no problem operating outside of the law when it so suits me. So, if this man should make any attempt to escape, or decide not to cooperate with the police, then I shall hunt him down. And when I find him, I will be much less lenient with him than the police would have been. And this man really has no desire to experience the punishments I have in mind for him for attempting to murder your friend," H.G. said to Claudia, then turned to look at the scientist and continued, "So, to keep all of his body parts safely attached, he will sit here and wait for the police; and when the police arrive he will confess to killing the wrestling coach and injuring Ms. Bering with his automobile. Isn't that right sir?"

The scientist felt like he had a frog stuck in his throat as he trembled and couldn't get his voice to function properly so he nodded quickly as sweat started to gather on his temples. The crazy lady was right, he really had no desire to test how real her threats were. From the sound of it, a jail cell would be much more cozy than what she had in mind.

H.G. turned back to Claudia as if she hadn't just been threatening dismemberment a second earlier. "So shall we?" she asked and motioned to the door. She didn't wait for a response as she helped Claudia exit the laboratory.

When they got to the hospital, H.G. dragged a nurse over and explained, "Her skin has come into contact with some toxic chemicals that rapidly accelerate the body's metabolism. I've treated her with an amino acid compound to normalize the effects. However, her blood should still be analyzed for any lingering abnormalities and harmful side effects. She needs to be seen to quickly since the effects of the toxin nearly killed her," H.G. explained to the nurse.

"And who are you?" the nurse questioned.

"My name is Helena," H.G. answered, which really didn't answer the nurse's question at all. But the nurse just nodded her head as she wheeled Claudia into a medical bay and helped Claudia get into the hospital bed.

Meanwhile, H.G. approached the front desk and inquired after Agent Bering's status. The nurse informed her that only family members can be provided with information regarding patient medical care. H.G., remembering that her future self had mentioned being married to a woman, told the nurse that she was Agent Bering's wife, hoping that there was no way for medical personnel to check the veracity of her claim. The nurse simply accepted the lie and told her to wait in the waiting room until a doctor could update her on the situation. It didn't take long for the day's events to catch up with H.G. and for her body to succumb to sleep in the uncomfortable hospital chair.

Four hours later, she was roused by a doctor calling out for family of Myka Bering. The doctor explained that Myka had broken two ribs, one of which had punctured her lung. The surgery to repair Myka's lung had gone well and her breathing had been stabilized through the help of a ventilator. Myka had also broken several bones in both legs and one arm, dislocated a shoulder, and had a concussion. The doctor explained that Myka had been briefly conscious after her lung surgery, at which point she had requested that Claudia be contacted, but that she was currently asleep due to the effects of the anesthesia from her latest surgery. The doctor doubted that Myka would wake up anytime soon, but granted H.G. permission to sit with Myka.

When H.G. saw Myka in her hospital bed she doubted that she would have recognized the woman without the help of the hospital staff. The woman currently lying in that hospital bed looked nothing like the fiery woman H.G. had met in London a little over three months ago. Myka's face was scratched and puffy. Her hair appeared limp and lifeless, and her body was connected to multiple machines.

The tubes in Myka's body and the machines in the room made it difficult for H.G. to accept the reality she found herself in. Everything looked so different. The body in the hospital bed appeared as if it belonged in a science fiction novel rather than the here and now. However, without all of these modern advancements Myka would have died. There was no way the doctors of the Victorian era would have been able to fix a punctured lung and mend three limbs that were broken in multiple places.

H.G. put her hand on her grappling hook and grimaced. For all of the modern era's advancements, the grappling gun that H.G. had invented in the 19th century could have prevented Myka's collision with the automobile. H.G. wondered how it was possible that the Warehouse Agents now carried all sorts of modern equipment with them, but that they failed to carry an item as essential as her grappling gun.

H.G. didn't know what she was doing in the hospital room. If she remained much longer, she ran the risk of getting apprehended and rebronzed. She would rather die than be rebronzed, and yet she couldn't force herself to leave.

When H.G. had met Agent Bering in London, she hadn't had time to feel anything but a brief moment of curiosity for the agents of the new Warehouse. She had found Myka's fiery attitude mildly interesting; and the fact that Myka had read her work had boosted H.G.'s already over-inflated ego.

All of that did nothing to explain the strange yearning that H.G. currently felt. As she looked at Myka, she felt as if she'd seen her face in hundreds of different expressions before, yet she knew nothing of the context of those expressions. It was as if she'd leafed through a photo album with snapshots of Myka's life, yet she didn't recall ever having done such a thing. It was more than just the hazy images in H.G.'s mind though that drew her to Myka. She felt this overwhelming need to learn every little detail about Myka Bering.

H.G. suppressed the urge to caress Myka's hand and wondered if her missing three months could have anything to do with these feelings, but then quickly dismissed that notion as ridiculous.

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The next morning when H.G. went to visit Myka in the hospital, she was pleased to see that Myka was awake and her breathing tube had been removed. Claudia sat in a wheelchair next to Myka's bed. Myka looked up in alarm when she saw H.G. Wells entering the room.

Claudia noted the rise in Myka's heart rate and quickly tried to soothe her, "hey, calm down," Claudia begged.

Myka continued to panic as she turned questioning eyes to Claudia.

"Don't worry," Claudia soothed, "H.G. isn't here to hurt anyone. I know that H.G. is supposed to be this evil super villain or whatever, but if it weren't for her I would be dead right now. She saved my life Myka."

H.G. made a noise of disapproval at being called an evil super villain; and Myka's expression softened a bit when she heard that Claudia had been rescued by H.G. But Claudia could tell that Myka was still concerned.

"And what exactly is the basis for your assessment on my super villain status?" H.G. asked as if some great injustice had been committed against her.

"Uh, hello H.G. you were bronzed," Claudia said. "Last I checked they don't just bronze people for no reason."

"I asked to be bronzed," H.G. responded, "although if I would have known that I would remain conscious under the bronze, I never would have made the request."

"Who in their right mind would request such a thing?" Myka asked.

"I wasn't exactly in my right mind at the time," H.G. replied mournfully, "my daughter had been brutally murdered and everything about the world I lived in seemed unjust. I had hoped that I would some day awaken from the bronze in a much improved world; a sort of modern utopia."

"The bronzer was your time machine," Myka realized. To which H.G. nodded her head. "Speaking of time machines, I thought you might get bored in this hospital bed, so I stopped by the bookstore to get you some light reading material."

H.G. dropped several books onto the cart next to Myka's bed. Myka examined the books with her left hand, the only limb on her body that hadn't been injured, and noticed that all of the books were H.G. Wells novels.

"I didn't know the quality of the writing from this era, so I picked out some books I know to be an excellent read," H.G. explained.

"I see you're quite humble about your work," Myka said sarcastically.

Claudia interrupted H.G. from making a retort and said, "So, I talked to Artie this morning."

"Oh?" Myka motioned for Claudia to continue.

"It seems that Pete is the only one that's not on bed rest right now since Artie had his appendix removed yesterday. Pete wanted to fly out to visit you, but Artie sent him on a mission." At seeing the disappointed look on Myka's face, she said, "yeah I know, Pete was disappointed as well, but Artie gave him the spiel about how people don't stop dying from artifact related incidents just because you're in the hospital. Sorry Mykes his words not mine."

"What did Artie have to say about H.G.'s involvement in the case?" Myka asked.

Claudia looked guilty as she said, "Uhm I didn't exactly mention that part."

"Claudia...," Myka was about to start a rant but Claudia interrupted, "I know, I know, alright. But, I was literally minutes from biting the dust yesterday. So, excuse me if I'm not in a hurry to hand her over to be punished for saving my life. I know what it's like to be charged guilty first and asked questions later, and I'm not going to be part of doing that to someone else. So for now, I'm going to turn a blind eye to the fact that H.G. is here until she gives me a reason to do otherwise."

"She killed MacPhearson," Myka reminded.

" _She_ is right here," H.G. said in annoyance at the two women talking about her as if she wasn't in the room. "And James MacPhearson had plans that involved killing all of you; and he would have killed me as well as soon as I ceased to be useful to him. So, I consider my preemptive strike to have been necessary. And Claudia, I really appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt since I would really like to stay here until you've both recuperated."

Myka however, had her doubts about H.G.'s presence. She knew that what H.G. said was true, but she also wasn't as quick to trust H.G. as Claudia.

They spent the rest of the afternoon conversing on lighter topics as H.G. regaled Myka and Claudia with tales of Warehouse 12 and Victorian England. The three women found that they quite enjoyed each other's company. But it was all too soon that Claudia was called away for a nurse to run some more tests on her. After Claudia left, Myka asked H.G. to read to her, but Myka found that it was difficult to concentrate when the woman that had been the novel's inspiration was sitting less than two feet from her.

"If your brother wrote the books, how come he published them under your name?" Myka asked indicating the book H.G. held in her hand.

"I actually wrote this novel," H.G. responded.

"I thought you said that your brother Charles was the writer."

"Charles and I wrote our first stories together in collaboration. But Charles quickly found that he enjoyed the fame and status of being a published writer more than he enjoyed the actual work behind writing. I continued to write, and Charles would edit my work from time to time. But even editing eventually became too much work for him, so in the end, all he did provide was the mustache."

"But why did you need your brother to be involved at all, if you did most of the work?"

H.G. sighed in exasperation as she remembered the society that she had been raised in. "When I first read the novels that were written by Mary Shelley, I was completely and utterly amazed. Here was a woman writing in a field that had thus far been reserved solely for men. Not only that, but her books had gained such fame that almost all of educated society in London had read her work. I had dreamed of one day gaining the same status."

H.G.'s eyes sparkled as she remembered her own youthful naivete, "But then I became pregnant," she continued. "I refused to get married, and doubly refused to give up my daughter. My parents didn't agree with my decisions and withdrew all support. Suddenly I found myself in dire need of finances. Charles had been working on rewriting a history textbook at the time. I offered to finish writing his textbook for him in exchange for room and board. As I was writing, I came to the realization that it would be much easier for me to sell my work quickly, and receive the much needed funding, if my work was written by a man rather than a woman. I presented Charles with some of the rough drafts of my manuscripts and we settled on an agreement. Initially, we were to split the earnings evenly. I took a further 10% reduction to have the works published under my name."

Myka was appalled when she heard that Charles had earned more money as H.G.'s beard than H.G. herself did for writing the novels. "I'm so sorry," Myka said.

"Don't be," H.G. responded, "I know that our agreement would be difficult to understand in this day and age, but Charles' offer was actually more than generous in Victorian society. As an unwed mother, my image in genteel society was ruined. Charles risked his own reputation when he agreed to support me. If my books hadn't been as much of a success as they were, then we both would have been ruined."

Myka mused that this had been the first time that she had ever heard H.G. say anything in defense of a man. H.G. returned to reading, but Myka still had trouble concentrating on the words and soon found herself lulled to sleep by the steady cadence of H.G.'s voice.

When Claudia returned to the room she found Myka asleep and H.G. hunched over a thick textbook.

"Whatcha reading?" Claudia asked.

"Oh I'm just acquainting myself with some of the academic achievements that have been made since my time."

Claudia turned the book over to read the title on the cover and noticed that it was a Physics textbook. She recalled all the research she herself had done when Joshua had been stuck in inter-dimensional limbo. So, she offered H.G. her help and the two spent the rest of the afternoon discussing modern Physics.

H.G. found that she was pleasantly surprised by the vast amount of knowledge that Claudia could provide. She realized that to survive in the 21st century she had to stop making the assumptions toward women that were common in her own time. H.G.'s studies and thirst for knowledge had been considered off putting to society. In the past she never would have dared to discuss physics with another woman as she was doing with Claudia. While the 21st century was far from the utopia she had dreamed of, she still found that she quite enjoyed many of the things it had to offer.

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The next day Myka woke to find a nurse in her room scribbling on her chart.

"Oh you just missed her," the nurse said when she saw Myka glance over at the chair H.G. had previously occupied. "Your wife and friend went to get some lunch; but they said that they would be right back, and that was 30 minutes ago, so they should return soon."

Myka's eyes bugged out when the nurse had said 'your wife.' But the nurse didn't seem to notice and continued talking.

"Your wife is quite charming. I can see why you fell in love with her. She has half the nurses convinced that they're gay now. Me, I don't swing that way, but the other nurses, girl, you'd think that Angelina Jolie herself came to visit based on how they talk about your wife. Oh I'm sorry," the nurse said at seeing the distressed look on Myka's face, "I hope I didn't upset you, talking about your wife like that. The other nurses don't mean nothing by it. It's just harmless talk. They obviously don't have a chance with her, seeing as how she's totally devoted to you."

"Um uh," Myka didn't know what to say. Based on the nurse's description, she guessed that the person currently parading around as her wife was H.G. and not Claudia. She assumed that this charade was how H.G. had gotten permission to visit her. Myka debated revealing the lie but didn't want to put an end to H.G.'s visits. She convinced herself that H.G. visiting her was the best way for her to keep an eye on the woman and perhaps glean some information on whatever it was she was planning. She was saved from contemplating the matter further as Claudia entered the room and the nurse left. Myka was pleased to see that Claudia was no longer in a wheelchair.

"So the doctor finally released me this morning," Claudia said. "Thank God, I was dying of boredom staring at the wall of the hospital room after H.G. left and you'd gone to sleep."

"Where is H.G. right now?" Myka questioned.

"She went to the library to pick up more books. She gave me this to give to you," Claudia said as she held out a box to Myka.

Myka opened the box and found a grappling gun with a note attached.

 _I designed this grappling hook when I was an agent of Warehouse 12 and I asked the Regents to make it standard issue equipment for all agents; but they denied my request. If the Regents had only listened to me, I believe your injuries could have been prevented. I know that this gift will do little to help the injuries you've already sustained but I hope that it will aid in keeping you safe from harm in the future. - Sincerely Helena G. Wells._

Myka traced H.G.'s signature. "Helena," she said to herself upon learning the writer's proper first name.

"What?" Claudia asked.

"Her name is Helena," Myka said, thinking that she liked this name better than the initials she had used in reference to the writer.

"Yeah, I know," Claudia said, "I thought Pete told you."

"Pete? No," Myka said remembering the kiss Pete and Helena had shared. She supposed Pete would have learned her name when he kissed her. Myka found herself getting upset at that kiss. Pete had known nothing about H.G. Wells, yet he had been allowed to kiss her. Myka on the other hand, had read all of her works and had studied extensively the period in which she had conducted said work. What did Myka get for all her efforts? Then Myka remembered the stories that Helena had shared with her, and the grappling gun that had been built by Helena's very hands and decided that perhaps the things that Myka had received could be worth much more than that kiss after all.

"What about Peter?" Helena asked, having heard the tail end of their conversation as she entered the room.

"Nothing," Myka said. But then asked, "why did you kiss him?"

"Oh Darling, you're not upset about that are you? You must know that I was only trying to distract him. Rest assured, I have no designs on ever kissing him again. So, if you want him, I will not be standing in your way."

Claudia snickered at the idea of Myka chasing after Pete.

"What? No. I don't want to be with Pete," Myka sputtered. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Forgive my assumptions," H.G. said, "Agents have been known to get romantically entangled with one another."

"Well there will be no entanglement involving Pete and I," Myka said with a scowl on her face. "Eew that would be like dating my brother, if I had a brother."

"So, if kissing Pete helped you get into the Escher Vault, I hope whatever you took was worth it," Claudia said curious as to H.G.'s master plan.

"I only took what was mine," H.G. responded.

"What did you take?" Myka asked.

"My grandmother's ring and compact, and the last remaining picture I have of my daughter, my Christina," H.G. said as she touched the locket around her neck.

Myka felt ashamed for asking, as she heard the grief in H.G.'s voice when she spoke of her daughter.

Claudia looked through the pile of books that H.G. had brought back from the library and noted that they were almost all physics books. "More physics books H.G.?" Claudia questioned, "If you continue like this I'm going to think that you're trying to build a nuclear bomb or something. And that really wouldn't do much to convince me that you're not some type of evil super villain," Claudia joked.

H.G.'s eyes bugged out. "What? I'm not trying to build a bomb. I just want to make a few improvements on my inventions."

"Speaking of inventions," Myka said, "Helena, thanks for the grappling hook. I know Pete would be soooo jealous if he were here right now. He always finds it so cool in the superhero movies when grappling hooks are used to zip around town or get out of danger in the nick of time."

"I'm glad you like it," Helena said and threw Myka a thousand Watt smile at hearing Myka say her name. She'd never liked her name that much, but hearing Myka say it made her feel like it was an absolutely wonderful name.

Upon seeing Helena's reaction, Myka decided that she very much enjoyed saying Helena's name if this was the result. And so, H.G. became Helena. Well, at least to Myka she did.

"So which inventions are you planning to tweak?" Claudia asked. "I looked at the design of your interceptor vest and I must say, it was quite impressive for something that was designed by a little old lady from the Victorian era. But if you want to see some true genius of everything that modern technology has to offer, then you should see some of the things that I've rigged up."

Helena narrowed her eyes at Claudia for being called a little old lady. She contemplated sharing her plans with Claudia and Myka. It would be extremely risky for her to do so. Yet, it would also go a long way in earning their trust. She knew that without their trust, this tentative friendship that was forming between them would soon sizzle out. And the companionship she'd shared with them the last couple of days wasn't something she wanted to give up. So, she decided that maybe sharing a little bit wouldn't harm her too much as long as she kept the big picture to herself.

"I'll have you know," she said giving Claudia a pointed look, "that _this_ little old lady drew out the preliminary designs of her time machine when she was younger than _you_."

"No way," Claudia said, "No way did you design a time machine."

"I didn't just design it, I also successfully built it."

"But time travel is impossible," Myka chimed in.

"Physical time travel, has thus far eluded me," Helena replied, "but it is very much possible to transport your conscious into the past." Helena then proceeded to explain the workings of her machine to Myka and Claudia. Claudia looked like a salivating dog about to be fed a steak when Helena explained the schematics that allowed the machine to function. As Myka listened to Helena talk, she realized that if Helena was ever captured and rebronzed, then the world would end up loosing one of the greatest minds in history. That was something that Myka decided, she didn't want to have anything to do with.

"But wouldn't time travel be dangerous?" Claudia asked, "You know the butterfly effect and all. Change one small thing in history and all of the sudden you've written yourself out of existence or worse set in motion something that would cause World War III."

"No. During my travels through time I have ascertained that it isn't possible to change the past. I have tried over and over again to save my daughter only to fail time and time again."

"Helena, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Myka said in sympathy.

"Yes for a time I had lost all hope in humanity," Helena said, "But now I feel that perhaps I can help create a better tomorrow for future generations." Helena didn't mention that the future generation she spoke of, actually lied within the past for her. Finding a way to save Christina and bringing her here to live a better future was still her plan. Only, she'd have to build a better time machine to accomplish that; and of course ensure that nothing she did would change her perspective of Christina's death in the past. But she was confident it could be done. After all, her future self had told her so.

"So what cool new inventions did you have in mind H.G.?" Claudia asked.

"Oh, for now, I think it would be best for me to just focus on improving upon some of my older inventions. The advancements that have been made in science are truly remarkable. I feel that many of my inventions could greatly benefit from some modern updates"

They spent the rest of the afternoon with Helena describing her inventions and recounting some of the hilarious missteps Helena had experienced while going through trial and error with her inventions. After meeting Nikola Tesla, Helena had almost burned the house down trying to build an electric generator. Helena laughed as she described the reactions some of her colleagues at Warehouse 12 have had to her inventions.

"How did you come to join the Warehouse?" Myka asked.

"Believe it or not, by playing a game of chess," Helena responded. "On Saturdays, I used to enjoy going to the park and challenging young men to a game of chess. I had believed myself quite clever, you see, and even fancied myself unbeatable. One such Saturday I found myself participating in a tournament. Imagine my shock when only three games in I had been defeated. The man that had won the match found me later and congratulated me on my game claiming that I had given him quite a challenge. He invited me to a rematch the next Saturday and after he beat me again, he offered me a position at Warehouse 12. Caturanga loved to solve and create puzzles. Sometimes I wonder if he hired me, merely so he could have someone on whom to test out his puzzles and chess strategies, since he always had a riddle for me, and we played chess nearly every time we met. Caturanga was a great mentor. I miss him dearly."

Helena stared off into space remembering those endless chess matches. When she came out of her daze to look at Myka she found Myka sound asleep.

Helena adjusted the blanket around Myka's body to cover her more evenly. Then she returned to her stack of physics books while Claudia chimed in from time to time on the subjects she was researching. Helena came to really appreciate Claudia's insight on her designs for modernizing her inventions.

The next day Myka asked Helena what she was doing there. Questioning why she would come visit her every day. She didn't know Myka, not really, so why did she care about Myka's recovery? To which Helena answered that she didn't have anything else to do, or anywhere else to be. Everyone she had ever cared about was dead. Myka and Claudia were the only people she could interact with that knew who she really was. It wasn't until that moment that Myka realized how truly lonely Helena must feel.

The following days followed a similar pattern to the days that have passed. The three women would talk and laugh in Myka's hospital room until Myka would fall asleep and Helena would resume her research. At night a nurse would come by to chase Claudia and Helena out of the hospital, informing them that visiting hours were over. After leaving the hospital, Claudia would take Helena to an empty parking lot to teach her how to drive. Myka laughed when she heard about their driving lessons, saying that it was an example of the blind leading the blind, since Claudia could barely drive herself.

One day, when Claudia had been running a little behind schedule, she rounded the corner of the hospital hallway to hear Myka and Helena laughing together uncontrollably. Myka looked so beautiful and carefree. Claudia mused that she had rarely seen Myka as relaxed and untroubled as she had been in that moment. It was so rare for Myka to let her hair down. She was such a stickler for following rules and doing what she was supposed to do, that she rarely took the time to enjoy the little moments in life.

"Ow I'm laughing so hard my ribs are hurting," Myka complained.

"Relax Darling," Helena responded, then handed her a pillow, "here hold this to your chest while I adjust your bed. That should help you with your pain." Helena grabbed Myka's left hand in her own and rubbed soothing circles along Myka's hand as she relaxed her breathing. Helena had such a caring look on her face. And Myka looked at Helena as if Helena herself had hung the stars.

"There now. Is that better?" Helena asked, to which Myka merely nodded and continued to stare at Helena. Seeing the look on Myka's face, Helena busied herself with pouring a glass of water for Myka.

Uh oh, Claudia thought when she saw the exchange. Be careful, Myka had warned Claudia on numerous occasions regarding her interactions with Helena. Yet, seeing the way that Myka and Helena looked at each other, this was the first time that Claudia actually felt that Myka's warnings had been warranted. 'Be careful,' Claudia thought. Well damn, Myka really should have done a better job of listening to her own advice. Because if Claudia was reading things correctly then the only way that this would end for the two women would be with a broken heart.

The past few days with H.G. Wells had been fun. But Claudia had known that the situation was temporary. Helena was a fugitive. Artie wasn't going to change his mind about Helena and neither were the Regents. Myka also wouldn't stay in a hospital bed forever. Myka was due to be discharged from the hospital the next day. Myka would spend the rest of her recovery in Colorado Springs under the care of her parents. What was Helena going to do then? Where was she going to go? Claudia and Myka were Helena's only friends. But if she went near the Warehouse she most certainly would be captured. Claudia knew that the connection that Myka and Helena had formed had been good for both of them. She just hoped that the friendship could somehow continue after Myka left the hospital without risking Helena's capture.

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: To those of you that submitted reviews, thank you so much. Your feedback really does provide the best motivation to write.

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Myka had been at home with her parents for three days now and she absolutely hated it. Her parents were peeved at Myka for getting herself into the state that she was currently in. Never mind the fact that Myka hadn't exactly planned on getting hit by a car. Three limbs as well as two ribs were broken. Titanium rods were surgically inserted into the broken bones to help them mend. So, thankfully she didn't have to deal with any casts. However, she was currently in a great deal of pain due to those surgeries. She felt as if her whole body was swollen.

Her stomach grumbled yet again. She was hungry, thirsty, and grimy. Her parents weren't exactly doing a stellar job of taking care of her. She never thought that she'd actually miss being in the hospital; but lying in her childhood home right now, she thought longingly of the hospital. At least in the hospital, Claudia and Helena had come to visit her every day. God she sorely missed their company right now.

When Myka's parents had picked her up from the hospital her mother had fussed over her and her father had been grateful that she was alive. Yet when they arrived home it had all gone down hill. The problems had started with dinner.

"I made your favorite," her mother had said, "Pasta with mushrooms and pesto."

That was her sister Tracy's favorite, not Myka's. Myka was allergic to pine nuts, and pesto contained ground pine nuts. Myka cursed her sister for having a favorite meal that Myka was allergic to. Myka took the plate from her mother and nibbled on the bread that accompanied the dish.

"Well aren't you going to eat your pasta? Don't be rude Myka. I went through a lot of trouble for this dish," her mother had said.

"Mom, I'm allergic to pine nuts," Myka had responded while she continued to eat the bread.

"You can be so ungrateful at times Myka. I wonder why I even bother." And her mother had left the room.

All of their interactions from then on had been unpleasant. Although she didn't know why she'd expected things to go any differently. It was her childhood all over again. Myka and her parents just couldn't seem to understand each other. They were just so different from one another. Her sister Tracy had never had any trouble bonding with her parents. But for Myka it had always been elusive. Myka had always felt like an outsider in her own family.

Her father would take her to physical therapy in the mornings to keep her joints from stiffening up, and her mother usually checked on her at some point in the evening. Those were the only times that Myka saw her parents; and they made sure to make her feel like a great burden each time. Myka felt her skin itch. Her parents had not bathed her since they'd taken her home from the hospital. If this continued Myka was going to find a way to hire a home nurse. Her parents had proven to be unreliable.

The doorbell rang followed by footsteps on the stairs. Then Helena appeared in Myka's room. Myka had never been so happy to see someone in her life.

"Darling it is so good to see you," Helena said as she approached Myka's bed. "I have missed you dearly these past few days. Come tell me, how goes the progress in your recovery? Are you in a great deal of pain?"

Myka bit her lip and looked down as she contemplated telling Helena about how horrible she'd felt the past three days but then decided against it. She didn't need to worry Helena. "Um, I'm okay," Myka said. "I'm so happy to see you. I've really missed you."

Myka's cheeks reddened considerably when her stomach growled loudly.

"Darling are you hungry? I'll go down to fetch you something to eat," Helena said.

"Don't bother," Myka replied, "My parents are very particular about meal times. They won't serve anything before dinner."

"But you're hungry," Helena said in puzzlement, "Surely your parents don't expect you to remain hungry for the next couple hours while you wait for supper. When was the last time you ate?"

"Breakfast," Myka mumbled as her stomach growled again. Myka's father had been running late that morning so she had rushed through her bowl of cereal. When they had returned from physical therapy the sandwich that would normally be waiting for Myka on her nightstand was absent. She hadn't noticed until after she'd woken from her nap ready to eat lunch only to discover that there hadn't been any lunch. Just another example of how her parents were failing as her caregivers; and it wasn't like she could have called her mother and asked for the forgotten sandwich since her parents had been out for the rest of the day. They had only just returned a few minutes before Helena had shown up at their door.

"You didn't have lunch?" Helena questioned.

Myka shook her head 'no.'

"Did your parents eat lunch?"

Myka shrugged. "Probably," she said.

Helena looked appalled. "That is unacceptable," she said angrily. "I think I'm going to have a word with your parents about their lackluster performance as your caregivers. How do they expect you to recuperate if this is the type of care you receive?"

"Please don't," Myka said. "It really wouldn't change anything."

"Myka, what your parents are doing is wrong and is certain to hinder your recovery. You deserve to be properly cared for. Please let me take you out of this house and I will care for you myself," Helena begged as she held Myka's left hand.

Myka was shocked at the offer. She wasn't Helena's responsibility, and didn't want to burden her. She didn't want Helena's pity. No, what she wanted was for her parents to step up to the plate and take care of her, and if they weren't equipped to handle that task, then they could at least let her know. She hated being in this in between state where she wasn't getting what she needed but was also unsure of whether or not she should make other arrangements.

"You shouldn't have to take care of me. Heck you barely even know me. And I really don't know you that well either. I don't know if I would be comfortable with you taking care of me. I'm sorry Helena, but I'm going to have to decline your offer."

"I understand," Helena said even though she was very disappointed with the rejection and didn't understand all that well at all. Myka's parents' neglectful treatment was detrimental to Myka's health. Myka shouldn't have to put up with that. She decided that she would come visit regularly and take care of Myka in her parents' home since Myka wouldn't allow her to remove her from the home.

"I'm going to go get you something to eat. I promise to be right back. Is there anything in particular that you want?" asked Helena.

"Whatever you bring me should be fine as long as it doesn't contain pine nuts or peaches. Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Oh and... before you go, can you please grab me something to drink?"

Helena handed Myka a glass of water and returned 20 minutes later with a restaurant take away bag containing a meal of meatloaf and salad. After Myka was done eating, Helena brought Myka her toothbrush, a bowl, and a glass of water so that she could brush her teeth. Helena was determined to show Myka that she could take care of her. She offered to brush Myka's hair and help her bathe, but Myka had turned a deep shade of red and declined the offer.

Helena settled in a chair next to Myka and asked, "So what are your favorite books?"

Myka blushed and replied, "What, why do you want to know that?" Myka couldn't very well tell Helena that H.G. Wells had always ranked at the top as one of her favorite authors.

"You mentioned earlier that we don't know each other well enough. I'm just trying to rectify that. I thought since we both enjoy literature, books would be a good place to start."

They spent the rest of the day talking about various books. Though Myka never did reveal which her favorite books were. Instead, they spoke about what they each liked or disliked about certain books, how they believed certain books could have been improved, and the impacts other books have had on their lives. Helena considered the evening a success since they had both learned a considerable amount about each other.

She didn't know where this yearning was coming from, but she felt the inexplicable need to form a solid connection with Myka. Helena wanted Myka to know everything. The good, the bad, and everything in between, down to the very core of what defined Helena's soul. And in return Helena wanted to learn those things about Myka as well. Helena supposed that this yearning might've stemmed from how untethered she felt to this strange new world. Connecting with Myka was a way for Helena to grow solid roots and to feel like she belonged. Yet that still didn't explain the intensity of Helena's feelings and desires. The only other time Helena remembered feeling such a strong compulsion to do something was under the influence of an artifact. But artifacts left behind a very distinct signature, which was noticeably absent in her current state. So she knew that this desire was not manufactured by some artifact. Instead it stemmed from some deep need within Helena that had lain dormant for so long that it could no longer go unfulfilled.

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The next morning Myka accidentally spilled her oatmeal all over the bed when she was overtaken by a coughing fit. Her father had been extra grouchy about the mess that she'd made. On the drive back from her physical therapy appointment he wouldn't stop grumbling about how he didn't understand how she could go from protecting the president to whatever it was she did now. He asked her for the umpteenth time if she was sure she hadn't done anything wrong to earn what he could only view as a demotion.

Then when they got home her mother kept nagging her to find a nice young man to marry, bemoaning the fact that she wasn't more like her sister Tracy. That was when Myka decided that she'd finally had enough. She knew that nagging was just her mother's way of showing her love, but she feared for her sanity if she stayed with her parents any longer. This just was not working.

When Helena came by later that day, Myka asked her as soon as she entered her room if the offer she'd made the other day was still on the table.

Helena beamed and said, "Really Darling? You're really going to let me take care of you? I'm so happy. Don't worry, you're going to receive the best care available. You will want for nothing. I'm so excited. When do we leave?"

Seeing the excitement on Helena's face Myka wondered what it was she had just agreed to. She pondered if there was something she had missed in this whole exchange, because people normally didn't get that excited to take care of someone. In fact they usually fulfilled the task reluctantly.

"Whoa, slow down Helena," she said chuckling at Helena's exuberance, "I haven't even told my parents yet."

"Well lets tell them right now."

Witnessing the glee that was radiating off of Helena, Myka couldn't bring herself to do anything that would temper that happiness even just a little bit. So, she sighed and said, "OK, can you please ask my parents to come up here?"

And Helena was off like a rocket, barely able to contain herself from running as she descended the stairs. All too soon, Myka's parents entered the room, while Myka was freaking out wondering what she was going to say to them. She hadn't had time to prepare anything to say. So she decided to just be blunt. "Mom, Dad, I'm moving out. Helena has offered to take care of me, and I think I would prefer that."

"You _think_ you would prefer that? Honey if you're not sure you shouldn't go. You know that you've always got a place here with us," her mother replied.

"No I really don't have a place here anymore. I'm a grown woman and I'm living with my parents. I feel out of place here. And I know I'm not the only one that feels that way. I know that me being here has been frustrating for you and Dad. I just... uhm... I feel so irritated all the time because I can't do anything for myself, and I'm not used to that. But Helena, she wants to help me... she wants to take care of me. And I think... no, I know... that I want her help. I need someone to take care of me since I can't properly take care of myself. And it really hurts for me to admit that because I hate feeling so useless."

Myka's mother looked like a woman whose beliefs had just been shaken. "But honey, you've always been so independent. We were just trying to give you your privacy and independence."

Myka was starting to get frustrated with this discussion. "Yeah well privacy and independence are a little difficult when I can't even wash myself. I don't really care about privacy and independence right now if I can just get a bath, a good meal, and some water every so often,... oh... and of course it would also be nice to have a conversation every now and then that didn't revolve around my short comings."

Her mother scowled at Myka's last remark, that had clearly been a dig at her parents for their insults. "Well fine," she sniffed, "If that's the way you feel then go. But don't ask me for anything if you're just going to be ungrateful about it."

She didn't give Myka a chance to reply since she turned on her heel and left. Myka was surprised when her father didn't follow her mother out. Instead he pulled her wheelchair close to the bed and said, "okay, lets get you out of that bed Pumpkin," as he pulled Myka's arms around his neck and lifted her into the wheelchair.

"Give it time Myka. Your mother will come around," he said as he squeezed her leg then steered her out of the room with Helena following behind them. Myka surmised that she was never going to understand her father. He had always acted so reproachful towards her. Yet at times when she least expected it, he would show her that unexpected smidgen of support.

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It was already too late when Myka realized that she was sitting in the car with someone that really shouldn't have been trusted to drive safely. Myka gripped the edge of her seat and yelled at Helena to "be careful," as they sped through an intersection. "You're going too fast. Slow down!" Myka instructed.

"Don't worry Darling," Helena said, "I've read the book on traffic rules and I've practiced driving with Claudia a few time. I know what I'm doing."

"That really doesn't calm my worries," Myka responded. Though she was pleased that the rest of the drive wasn't quite as nerve-racking.

Myka was puzzled at first, when they pulled into the parking lot of the Residence Inn. But then she realized that of course Helena wouldn't have an apartment or house in Colorado Springs if she was only there to visit Myka. She had to admit that she really hadn't thought this whole thing through when she'd accepted Helena's offer.

Helena didn't seem to notice Myka's worries as she helped her into the wheelchair and wheeled her into the hotel. She stopped at the front desk and told the clerk that she wanted to switch to a room with two beds. The clerk looked at Myka and asked if she wanted the room to be handicap accessible. From the blank look on Helena's face, Myka could tell that Helena didn't understand the question. So Myka just smiled up at the clerk and said that handicap accessible would be preferable.

While the hotel room wasn't particularly big, Helena deemed it would be acceptable. The room contained two double beds, a small love seat, a writing desk, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. "I have to go to the store real quick to pick up a few necessities. Would you like to come with me, or would you prefer to stay here?" Helena asked Myka after she finished her inspection of the room.

Myka was a little tired due to some pain medication she'd taken earlier. "I'd like to stay here. I think I'll take a short nap while you're gone. Can you please wake me when you get back?"

"Sure, I'll bring something for lunch so that we can eat when I get back." Helena helped Myka settle into one of the beds, then placed a water bottle on the nightstand along with Myka's pain medication, her cell phone, a book, a granola bar, and a packet of pretzel sticks. "Okay, here is my cell phone number; please call me if there is anything you need. Is there anything you would like for me to pick up for you while I'm gone?"

Myka shook her head. "No, I should be fine."

"Okay, you rest Darling and I'll be back in a little while. It shouldn't take me longer than an hour at most," Helena said. Then she leaned over and kissed Myka on the forehead as if she were tucking in a small child.

When Helena left Myka touched her hand to her forehead where Helena had kissed her. When Myka had been thirteen she'd read "The Time Machine" for the first time and absolutely fell in love with all things H.G. Wells. Now that she had the real live H.G. Wells caring for her and kissing her on the forehead, she didn't quite know how to feel about it. The part of herself that had been that thirteen year old girl was jumping up and down in glee. Yet, the more logical Warehouse Agent part of herself was conflicted. H.G. Wells was a fugitive; and Myka had always been a rule follower. It pained her to know that she was going against everything that she'd been taught by developing this friendship with Helena. Yet with every day that passed, their bond grew stronger. Myka cherished that kiss to the forehead and would welcome any other displays of affection Helena might want to bestow upon her.

When Helena returned from her shopping trip, Myka and Helena ate lunch together. Everything was going well until Helena said, "Well, I should probably get you ready for your bath. Are you at the stage in your recovery where you can be submersed in water or should I use a bowl of water and a washcloth?"

Myka turned a deep shade of red. While she'd been looking forward to finally getting clean, she hadn't really thought that much about what all it would entail. Myka bit her lip in nervousness then said, "Uhm well... maybe you can hand me the bowl and washcloth and I can try doing it on my own."

Helena saw that Myka was extremely uncomfortable with the current situation. "Myka look at me," she said softly, "I know that it is painful for your ribs when you bend over. So I don't think that you're ready yet to wash on your own. I can also see that you're uncomfortable with the idea of someone else washing you. I want to do whatever I can to erase some of that discomfort." She took one of Myka's hands into her own and said, "I remember one day while you were in the hospital a nurse came by to wash you. If it helps you feel more comfortable, just think of this as the same thing. That nurse was just one of your caretakers seeing to one of your needs. I am your caretaker now, and I'll be seeing to all of your needs. I am also your friend and I care for you deeply, but that doesn't preclude me from taking care of your needs. In fact, I think it better qualifies me for the task since I am more invested in your well being." She squeezed Myka's hand and said, "don't fret so much, okay?"

Finally Myka nodded and repeated a quiet "okay." She still was a bit uncomfortable but also knew that she was turning this into a bigger issue than it really was. To further convince herself to just get on with it, she moved her hands to the buttons of her flannel pajama top and started to work those buttons loose. "I can only take a sponge bath since I'm not supposed to get my stitches wet. I have a doctor's appointment the day after tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to take a normal bath after that," she said in response to Helena's earlier question.

"Alright, I'll go grab a washcloth, soap, and a bowl of water," Helena responded.

When Helena returned she helped Myka work the pajama sleeves down her arms. Then she set to work on washing Myka's upper body with the washcloth.

Myka blushed in embarrassment when she noticed that some hair had grown back under her arm pits. "Uhm, I haven't had the opportunity to shave since the accident," Myka said in reference to the body hair.

Helena looked up at Myka's chin, and said, "Why ever would you need to shave? You haven't got any hair on your chin."

Helena had adjusted so well to the 21st century that Myka had forgotten that there were probably many modern customs that were unfamiliar to Helena.

"It's customary for women to shave their body hair," Myka explained.

Helena looked at Myka in horror, "You mean your underarms? But wouldn't you cut yourself?"

Myka chuckled, "No, they have specially designed razors for women that make it much easier to shave without cutting yourself. Why don't we stop by the store after my physical therapy appointment tomorrow and I'll show you."

"Okay, but I think it would be best for me to try shaving something on myself first. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I hurt you while attempting to help you shave."

Myka hadn't realized that Helena would misunderstand her statement to mean that she expected Helena to shave her. Myka didn't know how she felt about the idea of Helena shaving her. Well, she knew that she didn't want to go to her doctor's appointment with hairy legs and armpits. So, she resigned herself to the fact that this was just one more thing that she'd have to get used to someone else doing for her.

After finishing with her upper body, Helena moved to take Myka's pants off and proceeded to wash Myka's legs. Helena knew that Myka was trying very hard not to show her discomfort; and that the more clothes that were removed, the more uncomfortable Myka would feel. So, when it was time to remove Myka's underwear, she started conversing with Myka about random topics to distract Myka from her distress. This technique seemed to work enough that when Helena turned Myka over to wash her back, most of Myka's uneasiness had eroded.

When Myka was redressed she felt immensely happy that she was finally clean. She hadn't realized how much her irritation at her dirty state had weighed her down until now. In that moment Helena became her new favorite person. Myka felt that there was nothing she could ever do to express her gratitude enough for what Helena was doing.

"I'll take you to a hair salon tomorrow to get your hair washed," Helena promised.

"Thank you so much Helena. This...everything that you're doing right now, it means the world to me," Myka proclaimed.

"You deserve the world Myka," Helena declared. Then she went to the closet and ruffled through a bag. When she came back to Myka's bedside she held a stack of journals in her arms and had a worried expression on her face.

"I know that the only way this situation can work is if you trust me. So, I'm going to give you something that I hope will help with that. I'm going to give you my trust, and in return I ask only that you keep an open mind and don't rush to judgment." Helena looked scared but she continued, "These are my journals, all of them. From my first entry at the age of eight, to the day before I was bronzed. I'm entrusting them to you, for you to read if you want. You'll be the only one in this world to truly know what lies behind my heart and mind. But before I turn these over to you, there is something that I must to tell you. And I'm afraid. Because I know that it will prove all of your worries true."

 _'No_ ,' Myka thought, ' _please let me stay naive and ignorant just a little longer. Please don't break this perfect bubble that we've been living under.'_ But she didn't do anything to halt her. Somehow she'd always known that there was a reason for her wariness in regards to Helena. The woman that she'd met in London had been dangerous and angry at the world. Yet, when she'd shown up in Myka's hospital room she'd seemed a lot freer somehow. She didn't carry around that same anger anymore. Myka had known that Helena's plans had changed, but whatever her initial plans had been they hadn't meant anything good. These were all things that Myka had buried deep in her subconscious that Helena was now forcing to the surface.

"At first, when Christina died, I refused to accept it," Helena confessed hesitantly, "I was convinced that I would be able to save her with my time machine. I worked night and day to finish building my machine. Then when I finally succeeded in building the machine, but failed again and again in changing the past, I became enraged. I hunted down the men responsible for Christina's death and killed them in the worst way possible. But that wasn't enough. It didn't bring my Christina back, and it didn't feel like any kind of justice. The envy and greed that had caused those three buglers to take my child's life still fed on the world like a cancer that had infected everything that was once good. I felt as if the world I was living in was Hell. And I wanted that world to burn."

Shame clouded Helena's voice when she continued, "One day, while I was on an artifact retrieval, I intercepted a man in possession of a whole collection of artifacts. One of those artifacts called to me. It was as if the artifact recognized my rage and honed in on that. It was part of a bifurcated artifact, the other half of which still lies dormant in Warehouse 2. It had the capability to bring about another Ice Age. With this artifact I finally saw a way to rid the world of its cancer. I worked tirelessly to locate Warehouse 2. But then, when I found the lost Warehouse, I couldn't make myself go through with my plan. I sat in the garden that Christina had once so enjoyed and realized that if I submerged the world in ice I would be killing that garden; I would be killing the few remnants that my daughter's life had left on the earth. I couldn't bare for any other part of my Christina wither away. In my conflicted state I became sloppy in my work. My carelessness cost one of my fellow Warehouse Agents his life. It was then that I asked to be bronzed."

It took Myka a while to grasp what Helena was telling her. She still had difficulty wrapping her mind around the fact that the author she'd loved since she was thirteen, and the woman that had cared for her so tenderly, had at one point in time felt the need to effectively kill the world. She had to know, "Do you still plan on creating another Ice Age?"

"No," Helena responded.

"Why not?" Myka asked.

"Because you love this world. I could never take away something that you love so much. And I've come to enjoy certain aspects of this world as well. I can't help but feel that Christina would have liked it here as well. That gives me hope that perhaps the world isn't as corrupted as I thought. I know it's not perfect, but it's not doomed either."

Helena fidgeted with her hands in nervousness then said, "Myka, I know that it's a lot for me to ask for you to continue to be my friend, considering what I just told you. But I'm not that same angry person anymore. And I promise you that I would never want to do anything to hurt you. I trust you, and I hope that someday you'll come to trust me as well," Helena placed her journals on Myka's nightstand and said, "Here are my journals, feel free to read them if you want. Maybe they will help you to better understand. I hope that you will not make any rushed decisions. I care for you very deeply and hope that my honesty hasn't cost me your friendship. But I will respect any decisions you make and actions you choose to take."

Helena saw that Myka needed time to think so she said, "I'm going to go take a shower, and leave you to your thoughts."

Myka knew that Helena was scared that she would reject her. She wished that she could say that Helena had nothing to worry about, but that would be a lie. It would take a while for her to think this whole thing through. So, she couldn't honestly say how she was going to treat her relationship with Helena. But she also wanted Helena to know that she wasn't rushing to judgment. So she picked up the first journal and said, "Helena, thank you... for trusting me. It means a lot to me."

Helena gave Myka a watery smile then entered the bathroom to take her shower. When Helena reemerged from the bathroom she saw that Myka was reading her journal and thought that it would be best to let Myka digest the information in her own time. So she was determined not to disturb Myka from her reading. However, that left her in a bit of a predicament. Normally she would take this time to research her physics books; but that wasn't possible at the moment, because her mind was racing and wouldn't quiet down. She wouldn't be able to learn anything in the state that she was currently in. So, she cracked open a blank journal and put her thoughts to paper hoping that it would help to calm her nerves.

The rest of the evening was spent mostly in companionable silence. They shared a light dinner together at six o'clock after which Helena's nerves had finally calmed enough so that she could put her journal down and resume her research. Besides their dinner and a few light words, Myka spent the whole evening reading through Helena's journals. Helena chose to take the fact that Myka wasn't turning her away as a good sign. She was determined to show Myka that her trust would not be misplaced.

'~ ~ ~

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I'm so sorry that it has taken me a while to post this chapter. I got really busy, and then I got really sick. It was very difficult for me to write after that. I'm going to try to update this every three days or four days from now on.

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After Myka had read through Helena's first journal, she came to realize just how much Helena had given her when she'd turned over her journals. All of her private thoughts, dreams, and desires were revealed to Myka. It must have taken an enormous amount of trust for Helena to allow Myka into the most private parts of her life. With the amount of trust that Helena had bestowed upon her, Myka couldn't help but to trust Helena in return. She believed Helena when she said that she had no desire to harm her or the world.

So, the morning after Helena's confession, Myka told her that although it was difficult for her to comprehend how Helena could have ever hated the world enough to want to end it, she believed Helena when she said she'd changed. She trusted Helena to do the right thing, and she needed Helena in her life. Not just because Helena took care of her, but also because the connection she felt to Helena felt more solid and real than most other friendships Myka had ever cultivated. It was rare for Myka to find someone with whom she felt as comfortable as she did with Helena. They had so much in common that they just clicked. There never seemed to be a dull moment between them.

Their shared trust helped them both grow closer. Myka and Helena settled into an easy routine. Helena had been amazed with Myka's physical therapy and had become an active participant in Myka's exercises and recovery. Helena made sure to celebrate all of the small advancements Myka made in her recovery. Myka was a bit embarrassed by all the attention and celebrations that Helena bestowed upon her. However, one celebration in which Myka was equally if not more enthusiastic than Helena, was when she regained full mobility in her right arm.

With the recovered mobility, Myka finally had something tangible that showed her that regaining her independence was within reach. She could now bathe and dress on her own. Helena still had to lift and transport her, but even there they've been making progress since they've been conducting mobility exercises on her legs in physical therapy to prepare her to eventually walk again. They weren't quite there yet, but Helena was confident that Myka would be able to walk on crutches within the next two weeks, and Helena's enthusiasm was rubbing off on Myka. Her living situation with Helena felt completely different from the situation that Myka had been in when she was living with her parents. Myka was a bit nervous as she was getting ready to visit her parents. It was Thanksgiving, and she and Helena had been invited to her parents' house for dinner. It would be the first time that Myka saw her parents since she'd left to live with Helena.

Myka sat in front of a mirror inspecting her appearance. She wondered for the nth time if she'd picked the right blouse and if she should change her hair style yet again.

"Darling will you stop worrying. You look beautiful," Helena said as she pulled Myka away from the mirror to keep her from second guessing herself and changing her appearance yet again.

"I just don't want to give my parents any more reasons than they already have for criticism" she rolled her eyes in annoyance and mimicked, "Myka, you're too skinny. Myka don't slouch it's unladylike. Myka when are you going to settle down and get married." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "It just never stops. And I just know that with me being in a wheelchair, they'll already have enough to say; I just don't want to give them any more ammunition."

When she stopped her rant she finally took in what Helena was wearing. Helena was absolutely gorgeous in a maroon dress that accentuated her figure perfectly. Myka felt like she suddenly had a lump in her throat. She'd never seen Helena in a dress before. Some part of herself that she didn't quite understand felt hungry when she looked at Helena. Thank God Helena didn't dress like that everyday, because if she did, Myka would have a hard time thinking clearly. "Um...Hm...hm," Myka cleared her throat and then asked in a squeaky voice, "is that what you're wearing to dinner?"

"Yes, I was under the assumption that this was appropriate party attire. Was I wrong? Should I wear something else?"

"No, no," Myka said, "you look amazing. I mean you look great. I mean um," she hung her head and then said, "that's a beautiful dress. Maybe I should change and wear a dress too. My mom always says I dress too masculine."

"Myka, there is nothing wrong with the way you dress regardless of what your mother says. You're beautiful. And you've already tried on over ten different shirts before you finally settled on that one. I really don't think you should change it again just to try on ten different dresses only to settle right back on the outfit you're currently wearing. And besides, we don't have time. If we don't leave now we're going to be late."

When Myka and Helena had shown up at Myka's parents' house, Myka was pleasantly surprised when her parents didn't rain the usual comments and criticisms on her. Her mother even went so far as to apologize to her. Myka was shocked. She wasn't used to being around her parents without their biting sarcasm. But it seemed like they really were making an effort to mend things. Overall, Thanksgiving dinner went surprisingly well.

Helena was excitedly talking to Myka's parents about all the small successes Myka has had so far in her recovery. Myka could tell that Helena was much more excited about the topic than anyone else at the table. Nobody really cared about Myka's ability to wiggle her toe or raise her leg. But to Helena, it was like she was discussing the most wonderful thing on Earth. As Myka watched the emotions playing across Helena's face, Myka realized that the thing she was most thankful for this year was Helena. Without Helena, this whole ordeal would have been unbearable to her.

That evening as Myka was trying to read one of Helena's journals, and Helena was reviewing the design of one of her inventions, Myka felt her focus wavering as her thoughts kept going back to how perfect this Thanksgiving had been for her. She longed to bottle up the peaceful feeling of the evening and wished that all of her evenings would feel like this.

"Helena can you come here for a moment?" Myka requested.

Helena put down her drawings and turned towards Myka. "Sure, what do you need?"

"Nothing. I just thought that we could hang out for a bit. I had a really good time tonight, and I wanted to know how you liked your first Thanksgiving."

Helena settled down on the couch beside Myka. "I really enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate with you and your family. But then again, I enjoy any time I get to spend with you. If I had to think of all the things that I'm thankful for, then a good deal of them would revolve around you. Your friendship, your trust, your companionship, your health. I know it's strange considering how short a time we've known each other, but your presence in my life really has made a tremendous impact."

Myka laid her head on Helena's shoulder and said, "You're what I'm most thankful for this year. Your presence in my life is important to me too. But I'm scared. What's going to happen when I go back to work Helena? I don't want to lose this. I want you in my life."

Helena pulled Myka into her lap and held her trying to show her that her feelings were reciprocated and also trying to soothe her fears. "I've been thinking of buying a house in Univille," she revealed.

Myka leaned back to look Helena in the face and said, "I wish you could, but you can't. It would be too dangerous. If anyone from the Warehouse sees you, you would be rebronzed."

"Not all houses are near the center of town. I figured that if I get a house a little removed from the town I should be fine," Helena responded.

"And what happens when you accidentally run into Leena or Pete at the grocery store? No, it's too dangerous."

"I'll hire someone to do my grocery shopping for me. Either way, it's a risk I'm willing to take. We'll sit down and figure out the logistics later. Right now, I just want to sit here and enjoy this moment with you, okay? It's Thanksgiving, lets not let fears and uncertainty cloud our evening." To further distract Myka she pulled the journal from Myka's hands, "what have we here hmmm?" She flipped through the pages and saw that it was the journal from when she was 11 years old.

The rest of the evening was spent with Helena recalling the tales of her life at 11. Every now and then Myka would comment with some of her own adventures from her childhood. But for the most part, Myka was content to sit snuggled up to Helena and listen to her talk. Thankfully, Helena's diversionary tactic worked and Myka's fears about their uncertain future retreated back to their dormant state.

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The next day Myka received a call from her sister Tracy.

"Myka, where are you?" her sister asked, "I went by Mom and Dad's house but they said that you moved out."

"I'm at the Residence Inn," Myka answered.

"Seriously you're living in a hotel when you could be living at Mom and Dad's? Anyways I'm on my way. I guess I'll see you soon."

Myka slowly exhaled to try to ease some of her frustration. She'd been jealous of her little sister for most of her life. Not that she wanted to have her sister's life or be more like her. It was just that things had always come a little easier to Tracy. Tracy had always been beautiful and popular, and Myka had been the weird skinny loner. Tracy had also never had the same issues with their parents that Myka has had. Of course Tracy wouldn't understand why Myka wouldn't want to stay with her parents.

Tracy arrived within 15 minutes. Myka hadn't seen her sister in four years so she wasn't quite sure what to expect.

"Oh my God, Myka," Tracy said, "I was so worried when Mom and Dad told me that you were hit by a car. And look at you, you're in a wheelchair. Are you in a lot of pain? Are you going to eventually be able to walk again? Oh God, please tell me you didn't hurt your spinal cord and you're like paralyzed now or something."

"Whoa slow down," Myka said as she considered all of Tracy's questions. "I'm not paralyzed, my legs are just broken. I'm only in pain when I put a lot of pressure on my legs, or when I sneeze or laugh too hard sometimes my lungs and ribs hurt. But other than that I feel mostly fine. I should be able to walk again eventually. Helena's convinced that I'll be walking with crutches in two weeks, so that's what I'm hoping for."

The hotel room telephone rang. Helena went to answer it. After concluding her telephone conversation she walked over to Myka and said, "Darling that was the front desk. They said they have a delivery for me. So, I'm going to go downstairs real quick to collect my package. I should be back within ten minutes okay?"

"Okay," Myka nodded.

Helena then turned to Tracy and said, "Tracy, it's wonderful that you could come to visit. I hope we can get to know each other a little better when I return."

When the door closed behind Helena, Tracy turned to her sister with raised eyebrows and said, "She calls you Darling?"

"Oh hush," Myka responded, "she doesn't mean anything by it." Though she couldn't help but blush as she said it, because the way Helena called her darling always made her feel so special. So it sure wasn't meaningless to Myka.

"Whatever you say," Tracy said with a tone that said that she also didn't believe that the term was as meaningless as Myka tried to make out. She turned around and inspected the room, snooping through Myka and Helena's belongings as she went. She noticed all the books that were piled in the room, and the design drawings that were spread out on the table. She assumed that the drawings were Helena's since Myka had never shown any proclivity for designing things. "Is Helena like an engineer or something?" she asked while inspecting the drawings.

"She's an inventor," Myka responded.

"Oooh what all has she invented?" Tracy asked excitedly.

"Nothing you would be familiar with. And don't touch that. Can you please stop snooping through her things," Myka said with annoyance.

"Will you chill," Tracy exclaimed, "I'm not doing anything. But fine have it your way. I'll sit here and we can have a normal boring conversation."

Tracy moved to sit on one of the beds and asked, "so which bed is yours?"

"The one on your left," Myka responded, "why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason," Tracy said as she moved to the bed and discovered an old worn diary on the nightstand. She picked up the book and leafed through the pages.

"Put that down, it's private!" Myka exclaimed as she hurriedly wheeled herself over to her sister to try and yank the journal out of her hand.

Tracy raised the book out of Myka's reach and said, "Oooh is this your diary? Let's see what's in that weird mind of yours." Tracy proceeded to leaf through the pages.

"Don't," Myka yelled. "It's Helena's, and she didn't give you permission to read it, so put down her journal right now or I swear I'll make sure you'll be sorry."

"If it's Helena's, then why is it on your nightstand?" Tracy asked skeptically although she complied and put the book down.

"Because Helena gave it to me to read," Myka explained with an expression on her face that said something along the line of 'isn't it great.'

"Your friend lets you read her diary? You have some weird friends."

"She's not weird," Myka defended. "She's amazing and the fact that she trusts me with her diaries is beautiful and I'm not going to let you ruin that with your disparaging comments."

Tracy could tell that Myka was hurt by her comment about Helena being weird. Based on Myka's reaction it seemed that Helena was pretty important to her. Tracy knew that her sister had a tough time making friends. She didn't want to do anything to alienate her sister any further when Myka obviously cared deeply about this particular friend.

"Look, I'm sorry," Tracy said, "I can tell that Helena obviously cares a lot about you since she's taking care of you while you're hurt. And you're right. Her trusting you with her diaries is beautiful. I've never had any friends that would trust me with something like that. You know I was just teasing you earlier. I didn't mean anything by it."

"I know," Myka responded, "I just ..." she was about to say more but was interrupted when Helena walked back in.

Helena opened the cardboard boxes that had been delivered to reveal more physics books. Tracy thought to herself that Myka's friend seemed to be a real nerd. But that was probably a good thing since Myka was a giant nerd herself and needed a friend that could appreciate that side of her.

"So how long are you in town for Tracy?" Myka asked her sister.

"I go back to DC the day after tomorrow. But guess what? Kevin's getting re-assigned to Colorado Springs so we'll be moving here in about four months. Go figure... I marry a military man to travel the world, but instead he gets stationed in my home town."

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On Friday evening it had snowed, so on Saturday morning it looked absolutely gorgeous outside with everything covered in white fluff. Helena had loaded Myka into her wheelchair and the two of them were enjoying the crisp cold air outside when the morning serenity was interrupted by the ringing of Myka's cell phone. Myka saw that it was Pete.

"Hey Pete," Myka answered, "I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving was pretty great. How is everybody at the Warehouse? I hope Artie isn't being too much of a grouch so that you guys can at least enjoy the holiday weekend a bit."

Pete was happy to hear Myka's voice. The joy in her voice gave him a good indication that she was doing well. He wished he could have called under happier circumstances because he hated to have to dampen any of her joy. But that wasn't the case. When Myka stopped talking, he took a deep breath and said, "Myka, I have some bad news."

Myka took a moment to prepare herself, then said, "What is it Pete?"

"Dickinson is dead. Somebody used an artifact on Monday night to torture and kill him." Pete relayed the rest of the information about how Artie believed that the artifact that was utilized to kill Dickinson was something he had traded in Russia when he was younger. He concluded the phone conversation by saying that Dickinson's funeral was on Monday morning.

"Okay Pete, I'll be there. Thank you for letting me know," Myka said and hung up the phone.

Helena's curiosity was piqued when she heard Myka promise to go somewhere. However, she could also tell by the tone of Myka's voice that Myka needed a moment to process the information she'd received. So, Helena waited patiently for Myka to tell her what was going on.

Myka took a deep breath, then looked up at Helena and said, "I have to fly out to Washington DC tomorrow. My old supervisor was murdered. His funeral is on Monday, and I'm thinking of going back to work afterwards. I really want to help Artie and Pete catch the person that was responsible for his death."

"Myka, I'll go with you," Helena said. "You don't have to do this on your own."

"Helena, it's too dangerous. What if Pete or Artie sees you?"

"I'll stay out of the way," Helena responded. "I just want to be there to support you," she leaned in and kissed Myka on the cheek, then said, "I have nowhere else to be, and there's nothing else I have to do."

It felt so good for Myka to have Helena's support when she was so removed from the Warehouse and the people she cared so much about.

"Okay," Myka said, "We have to go back to the hotel so that we can pack and book our flights. I'll call Tracy to ask if we can stay with her in DC. She said she was flying back tomorrow morning."

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As it turned out, Myka, Helena, and Tracy were on the same flight to Washington DC the next morning.

However, Tracy was relieved that she wasn't sitting anywhere near Myka and Helena when she saw that Helena got motion sick on airplanes and thus spent much of their trip vomiting into a bag.

Myka on the other hand was more concerned rather than disturbed by Helena's motion sickness. She did what she could to alleviate Helena's suffering. She handed her tissues and bags, pressed cold cloths to her head, rubbed soothing circles on her back, and told her stories to distract her from her illness.

Throughout Myka's recovery, Helena had been so supportive. Myka tried her best to reciprocate in that moment when Helena obviously wasn't feeling very well.

Helena squeezed Myka's hand tightly as the airplane made its descent. When the plane had finally stopped Myka wiped the sweat from Helena's brow to try to help her calm down.

"I've flown to London, South Dakota, California, and Colorado within the last few months. You'd think I'd be used to this by now, but flying just doesn't seem to agree with me," Helena said.

"The next time you fly, we'll buy you some Dramamine. It's anti-nausea medication. It'll make you tired, but hopefully it'll also help you with your motion sickness," Myka explained.

Helena felt a lot better after she got to Tracy's apartment and was able to shower and brush her teeth. With dinner the last of her queasiness dissipated through the replenishment of electrolytes and the normalization of blood sugar levels.

Tracy had offered them the guest bedroom and living room couch for sleeping arrangements. Helena and Myka took one look at the uncomfortable couch and simultaneously decided that they wouldn't mind sharing a bed since neither of them wanted to wake up with a sore back.

With most people Myka would have been a bit more apprehensive about sharing a bed. Yet with Helena it was different. There was no more modesty between them after Helena had helped her bathe and dress numerous times and she'd seen Helena in various states of undress since they'd lived in a small hotel room together for the past week and a half.

Helena could tell that Myka was lost in her thoughts as she climbed into bed beside her. So, she leaned over and kissed Myka on the cheek to bring her back to the present. "What are you so busy thinking about?" she asked.

Myka looked a bit dazed, "Huh? Oh, nothing she responded," then reached to turn the light off. She'd been thinking about seeing Pete and Artie again for the first time after her accident. This would be the longest time she'd ever gone without seeing Pete since she'd been partnered with him. Artie had kept Pete so busy since Myka's stay at the hospital that Pete hadn't had the time to visit Myka.

Myka was brought out of her thoughts once again when Helena said, "Well good night then Darling," as she leaned in to kiss Myka's cheek again, then settled to lie on her back.

Myka touched her cheek where Helena had kissed her; then turned on her left side to face Helena. She reached a hand out and traced Helena's lip and chin with her finger. "Helena?" she said as she continued to trace Helena's lip.

Myka dropped her hand when Helena looked at her questioningly and responded with "Yes?"

Myka bit her lip, then leaned forward a bit more and quietly asked, "Can I kiss you?"

Less than half a second after Helena had responded with a breathy "yes," Myka had her lips pressed against Helena's in a chaste kiss.

As Myka pulled back, Helena grabbed Myka and pulled her in for a second kiss. Then she looped her arm around Myka's neck for a more lingering third kiss. By their fourth and fifth kiss they were both breathing heavily as Myka lied on top of Helena, while Helena tangled her hands in Myka's hair.

When the pace of their kisses slowed and their breathing was somewhat back to normal Helena smiled at Myka and asked, "What brought this on? I must know, so that I can ensure that it will happen again."

Myka blushed and said, "When you kissed my cheek, I felt the overwhelming urge to have you kiss me properly."

Helena laughed and said, "My, the definition of proper must have changed if engaging in such kisses is considered proper for a lady."

Myka chuckled, "Hush you," she said, "you know what I meant."

"Yes Darling," Helena said, "I was merely teasing you. I love indulging your urge for _proper_ kisses. Because, my Darling, I have the urge to kiss you nearly constantly and would be overjoyed if you felt equally compelled so that we may properly sate our urges," Helena leaned up to capture Myka's lips in a kiss again.

After breaking off the kiss, Myka rested her head on Helena's chest and said, "If we kissed nearly constantly we would never get anything done, but I would love to share more moments like this with you."

Helena stroked lazy circles on Myka's arm and said, "this moment right now, this is quite nice."

Helena wished she could preserve the peace of the present moment for eternity, but she knew that it was impossible. Myka had a life outside of Helena, and that life was beckoning Myka back to the Warehouse. Tomorrow Myka would attend the funeral of her old colleague, and Helena knew that after that funeral their lives and routines would end up changing quite a bit since Myka would soon be returning back to work. She just hoped that they would still find the time to share moments like this with one another.

Myka sighed and kissed Helena good night one final time, then rolled back to her side of the bed to get some sleep. The exhaustion of a day spent traveling soon caught up to both women as they quickly succumbed to slumber.

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After the funeral, life had seemed to speed up suddenly for Myka and Helena as they were yanked back into the world of the Warehouse. Another person was murdered and Artie's family was being used as bait to lure him back to Russia. When Helena saw Myka's distress over the whole situation, Helena had volunteered to go to Russia to ensure Artie's safe return.

"How is that any better?" Myka had asked, "Instead of just worrying over Artie's safety, I'll be worrying about both you and Artie."

"I am a seasoned Warehouse agent, skilled in kenpo and other forms of self defense. You will not have to worry about me," Helena had responded. "I know that if you were fully recovered, you'd go with Artie and Pete to Russia. I'll simply be taking your place."

"Yes but if I were to go, I wouldn't have to worry about being captured. Helena, you're a fugitive, I think it's time you took that situation a bit more seriously." Myka had been getting frustrated with Helena constantly making light of the situation.

"I am taking the situation seriously," Helena had fumed, "My reasons for going to Russia are not entirely selfless. I figured that if I'm able to aid Artie in Russia, then that might help convince him and the Regents that I mean to cause no harm. Myka, the only way that I can remain an active part in your life is if I find a way to prove my good intentions to the Regents. This will be a good place to start. My only concern is that if I'm in Russia, I won't be here to take care of you; and while you've made great progress in your recovery, you do still require assistance."

Myka had to admit that Helena's argument for going to Russia was valid. So, she resigned herself to the fact that she was just going to have to find a way to deal with it. The least she could do was allay Helena's worries a bit.

"Don't worry about me," she'd responded, "I should be fine with my sister. And if that doesn't work out, I could always go back to South Dakota where Leena and Claudia would be thrilled to play my nursemaids."

When they met up with Tracy for dinner it was decided that Myka would remain in Washington DC with her sister. Myka had blushed a deep scarlet red when Helena had given Tracy detailed instructions on how to properly care for Myka, which included helping Myka get in and out of the bathtub since Myka still couldn't stand unassisted.

There had been much to do before the trip to Russia and they'd had precious little time to prepare. Myka knew that Helena would need a way to track Artie. So she'd ordered a microwave receiver that was normally used to track wildlife and had it delivered for pick up at the airport post office in Moscow. She hoped that Helena could program the receiver to pick up the signal from the transmitter that Claudia had inserted on Artie's glasses.

After the logistics for the trip had been taken care of, Myka briefed Helena on all the most important things she knew about Artie, his past, and his family.

The night before Helena left for Russia neither Myka nor Helena got much sleep. They'd snuggled close together and their good night kiss had turned into several heavy make-out sessions. Myka had been worried that Helena would get either hurt or captured in Russia so she'd held her as tightly as she could to try to savor the moment when Helena was still safe in her arms. She had wanted to take their intimacy further, but Helena had refused, saying that they were both in a vulnerable state of mind and she didn't want to take advantage of that. She didn't want either of them to have any regrets and possibly ruin their relationship over a night of passion that neither of them was prepared for. There had however been some heavy petting involved to show promise for what would come when they were both ready.

The morning that Helena left for Russia, Myka had packed her a tube of Dramamine with instructions to be careful and to call often to keep Myka updated. Likewise, Helena had made Myka promise that she would not be too proud to ask Tracy for assistance when it was needed.

Once in Russia, Helena had followed Pete and Artie for four days before she'd found Artie in a position that could benefit from her assistance. Artie had been kidnapped by a young Russian man and was being held in an abandoned Warehouse.

Helena crept quietly into the warehouse when she saw the Russian man leave. She quickly undid the chains that held Artie. However, just when they were about to make their escape, the Russian man returned. Helena tried to intervene when she saw that he was using an artifact on Artie that was causing him immense pain. She moved to grab the artifact from the man's hand, but then he turned on her and blew on another artifact which caused her to feel chilled to the bone. She caved in on herself to try to keep as much heat in her body as possible. She knew that if she didn't find a way to fix the situation quickly she would die.

The Russian turned to Artie and said, "Now you get to watch your friend die."

Artie pretended nonchalance when he shrugged and said, "Let her die, I don't care, she means nothing to me."

In that moment Helena felt so stupid for coming to Russia to try to prove herself to Artie and the Regents and it was all for nothing. Artie had no reason to care if she died, but Myka would be devastated. She should have been more careful. This was all pointless if she died before she had the opportunity to accomplish anything.

Helena thought of Myka back in the U.S. waiting for her to return safely. She reached for the grappling hook that Myka had insisted she take with her and tried to get her arm to shake a little less so that she could properly aim the thing at the Russian. She squeezed the trigger and the hook shot out, connecting with the Russian's head, knocking him out. Artie grabbed the artifact and hurried over to Helena.

"Here hold this," he said as he handed her the wooden plank. "This should make it better."

Helena finally felt like she could breathe properly again when the cold started to dissipate.

"It might take a few days for all residual effects to clear out, but you'll live," Artie said. "Well for now at least. What type of life you'll lead is for the Regents to decide."

Artie reached to grab her arm, but Helena quickly scuttled out of the way. She replayed the words Artie had uttered earlier when he'd demonstrated his apathy on whether she lived or died. Helena knew that Artie wouldn't vouch for her in front of the Regents. She hadn't proven anything to Artie other than the fact that she was foolhardy.

"No," Helena said as she stumbled to her feet. "I'm not going back to the bronze sector. Nobody deserves that torture." She retracted the grappling hook and pointed the device at Artie, "You're going to allow me to walk out of here now if you want to avoid the same headache that I'm sure your Russian friend will be waking up with."

Helena willed her tired body to gather enough strength to walk. Artie just stood and watched her go. He knew that he would catch her some day, but that day would have to wait, because he also knew that he would not be able to take Helena down on his own. He cursed the fact that Pete wasn't there right now to help him apprehend H.G. Wells. When Helena had exited the room, and the grappling gun was safely out of range along with her. Artie gingerly moved his aching body one step at a time until he finally reached fresh air. He was still in a lot of pain from the torture that had been inflicted upon him by the son of his old Russian business liaison. It took him two hours to reach a telephone and contact Pete to request his assistance in getting safely back to the airport and home to South Dakota.

**************WH13*************WH13*************

Back in Washington DC Myka missed Helena terribly. Tracy was adequate at seeing to Myka's needs but she was no replacement for H.G. Wells. Myka missed Helena's companionship, her voice as she regaled Myka with tales of Warehouse 12, her enthusiasm when she helped Myka with her physical therapy, and her soft kisses that made Myka feel like Earth's most treasured being.

Myka spent most of her days reading Helena's journals to try to fill the void that Helena had left. She only had four more journals left. Myka traced her lips remembering the feel of Helena's kisses as she read a younger Helena's words.

"Is that all you're going to do? Lie there and read all day?" Tracy asked, "Don't you want to go outside and get some fresh air?"

"No, I'm good, I'm going to continue to read. But you don't have to stay here with me. If you want to go outside, then go."

Tracy sighed, and pulled the book out of Myka's hands disregarding Myka's outraged cries of protest. "Myka this isn't healthy," she yelled. "I know you miss your friend. I promised her that I would take good care of you, and letting you lie there all day reading her diaries doesn't exactly qualify." She yanked the covers off of Myka's body and pulled the wheelchair around next to the bed. "Now we're going to get you showered and dressed, then we're going to go outside for a bit and I'll introduce you to my favorite brunch restaurant. This will all take less than two hours, you're welcome to go back to reading after that."

Myka huffed and crossed her arms in defiance. "Don't give me that attitude," Tracy said, "or I'll tell Helena when she comes back that you were being difficult. I'll tell her that you wouldn't do those physical therapy exercises that I know she cares oh so much about. So, when it takes you longer to walk again, because you're letting your muscles atrophy by just lying in bed all day, you know you'll only have yourself to blame."

Myka hung her head in shame at the thought of undoing all of Helena's hard work. Helena had been amazing throughout Myka's recovery. She'd diligently worked Myka's muscles with her each day to prepare her to walk again. Yet when Helena had left, Myka had lost motivation in doing anything other than reading Helena's diaries. Myka had fought Tracy at every turn when she'd tried to coax Myka out of bed each day. She knew that she was making things difficult for her sister when she was merely trying to help.

Tracy felt bad when she saw Myka's morose expression. She knew that Helena's departure had thrown Myka into depression. But she had a difficult time understanding Myka's reactions to Helena. Myka called Helena her friend, yet Pete was Myka's best friend, and Myka wasn't all depressed about him not being around. So, what kind of friend was this, if Myka felt more strongly about her than she did her best friend?

"Don't worry Myka," Tracy said, as she helped Myka maneuver into her wheelchair. "Helena will be back before you know it." Tracy bent to look Myka in the eyes when she said, "You must care about her a lot if she's got you in knots every time she goes on a mission. I mean isn't she with Pete right now? I don't see you getting all worked up about him being in harm's way."

Myka bit her lip and looked down to break eye contact with her sister. "It's different with Helena," she said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm worried about Pete and Artie as well, but with Helena... well, it's weird, I know that she can handle herself out there since she's had no problem taking both Pete and I down before, but I still can't help but worry so much. She just makes me feel so..." Myka cut herself off from saying more. She wasn't ready to discuss her feelings with her sister when she herself wasn't exactly sure about those feelings. When it came to Helena, her emotions were just all over the place.

Tracy placed her hand on Myka's shoulder and said, "I know what you mean. I feel the same way every time Kevin gets sent on a mission in a dangerous part of the world." Tracy tried to show her understanding, although she didn't really understand. Kevin was her husband and she felt a certain way about him. But she never felt that same way for a friend of hers. If Myka had been feeling this way about Pete, she would have read it as Myka secretly being in love with Pete. But Helena was a woman, and Myka wasn't a lesbian, so Myka's current emotional state just didn't make sense to her.

Later when Tracy helped Myka into the bathtub she mused that she might have to reassess some of her beliefs about her sister. She'd asked Myka if she was uncomfortable with Helena seeing her naked each day and helping her bathe. Myka had replied that the first time that Helena had helped her she'd been nervous but that Helena had been so gentle with her and had done everything she could to rid Myka of her nervousness that Myka was no longer bothered by it. If anything, Myka felt that this experience only made their bond grow stronger.

Tracy resigned herself to the fact that she may have to consider the possibility that her sister was in love with a woman. Tracy hoped that she was wrong in her suspicions, because she knew that this was something that her parents would never accept. She wasn't sure if she herself could be accepting towards something like that in regards to her own sister. When she thought about gays and lesbians, she always thought about them as an abstract notion far removed from herself and her family. She'd met a few people that were gay, but she hadn't gone out of her way to associate with them. Now that she was faced with the possibility of her own sister being something other than 100% heterosexual, she was scared because she knew that she would have to reassess many of her belief systems. For now, she tried to push her worries to the back of her mind. She wouldn't just assume her sister to be gay. It just didn't make sense since she knew that Myka has had more than a few boyfriends.

*******************WH13******************WH13***********

When Helena got to the airport, she perused the flight schedules to decide on her flight route out of Russia. There was a flight to Paris that left in an hour, but if she took that flight, she would have a layover in Paris that lasted nine hours. There were other flights out of Moscow with shorter layovers, but they were all either fully booked or didn't leave for another few hours. In the end she decided that it was most important for her to leave Moscow as soon as possible to avoid the possibility of running into either Pete or Artie at the airport. So, she booked the flight to Paris.

Paris would forever hold a sore spot in Helena's heart since that was the town in which her daughter had been murdered. Before Christina died, she used to love Paris, but now all it held was painful memories.

When she arrived at the Paris airport, Helena decided to go outside to get some fresh air, instead of waiting in the airport for nine hours. She hailed a taxi and the next thing she knew she was standing in front of Christina's grave. She hadn't even made a conscious decision to go there, she'd simply functioned on autopilot.

The piece of the Minoan trident that was disguised as a handle to Christina's crypt appeared ominous to Helena. Tears sprang to Helena's eyes when she thought of all that could be destroyed with that artifact. She couldn't believe that she had ever been capable of wishing for that degree of destruction. She leapt forward and worked the handle loose.

While Christina had been alive she had brought joy to Helena's life. Christina shouldn't have her death be associated with an artifact that required so much hate, when she'd never been capable of that hate in life.

When she'd finally pried the artifact loose from Christina's coffin, Helena allowed herself a moment of peace to reflect on the amazing little girl her daughter had been. She brought her fingers to her lips, then touched her hand to Christina's coffin in a kiss goodbye. Then she turned on her heal and left, determined to make her way to the nearest post office so that she could return the artifact to the Warehouse.

She penned out a letter to the caretaker of Warehouse 13, explaining that she'd discovered the artifact prior to being bronzed, but that she had no intention of using it. She warned of its destructive power and advised that the artifact be secured away from easy access. Then she sealed the artifact and letter in a box and mailed it to Warehouse 13. She felt some closure in this action. She could finally put that vengeful part of her life behind her. Now, she could look forward to a future that was a little less burdened by her past.

She felt simultaneously happy and sad as she boarded her plane to Washington DC. She was happy and excited to be reunited with Myka again within a few short hours. But on the other hand, visiting Christina's grave had felt different without all the anger that she once felt. She used to feel angry at the world for taking Christina from her. Now, she was mostly sad and angry at herself for all the time she'd lost with her daughter when she'd been out hunting artifacts, tinkering with her inventions, writing one of her books, or chasing after some paramour. Christina had been raised by nannies and tutors. If Helena had to do it all over again, she would cherish every moment she got to spend with her daughter.

She knew that she would see her daughter again some day, for the future version of herself had told her it was so. But her research into building a new time machine showed that it was no simple task and that it would most likely take years to accomplish. In the meantime, she was determined not to repeat her past mistakes. She would take the time to appreciate those things that mattered most to her. She would not brush Myka to the side, while she worked singlemindedly on her time machine. She would have to find a balance so that she could do both.

************WH13****************WH13****************

Tracy and Myka were at the airport waiting for Helena when she made her way over to baggage claim.

"Help me stand, so I can hug you properly," Myka demanded of Helena. Helena was all too happy to oblige as she bent down so that Myka could loop her arms around her neck and then slowly raised Myka into a standing position. Myka and Helena held each other tightly as they each rejoiced in the feeling of being immersed in each other's presence. Neither wanted to let go of the other, but Helena knew that it was painful for Myka to put pressure on her legs so she eventually lowered Myka back into her wheelchair.

When they got back to Tracy's apartment, Helena was introduced to Tracy's husband Kevin. Although introductions were a bit rushed since Kevin and Tracy were in a hurry to leave as they had a friend's birthday party to attend.

After Kevin and Tracy left, Helena settled herself onto the living room couch as the day's exhaustion caught up with her. Myka wheeled her way over to the couch to be nearer to Helena, so Helena pulled Myka from her wheelchair and placed her on her lap as she circled her arms around Myka's torso. Then she leaned her head back against the couch and closed her eyes to take a moment to relax.

"Helena, you're so cold," Myka said, as she reached for the throw blanket behind the couch.

"After effects of a particularly nasty artifact I encountered in Russia," Helena explained. "I should be back to normal within the next few days."

"Then let me help warm you up," Myka said as she looped her arms around Helena and kissed her deeply. Helena found that the kisses really were helping as she became aroused and her body responded by heating up in the most pleasurable way. She tightened her grip around Myka as she deepened their kisses and explored Myka's mouth with her tongue.

Helena repositioned their bodies so that she was reclining on the couch and had Myka's body pulled on top of herself.

"I'm so glad you're back," Myka said between kisses, "life just doesn't feel the same without you. I don't know how I'm going to cope when I go back to work."

"We'll just have to make an effort to see each other each day so that I can kiss you silly," Helena replied.

When their kisses died down, Helena relayed the details of her trip to Russia and Paris. As she finished her tale she leaned her head back and sighed, "I'm so tired. These adventures sure take a lot more out of me than they did when I was younger."

Myka leaned in to peck Helena's lips and said, "Then rest your eyes for a minute my darling. We don't have anything pressing to do." Myka pulled the throw blanket over them both and laid her head on Helena's chest.

They had planned on only sleeping for a few minutes, but those minutes quickly turned into hours, so snuggled together asleep on the couch is how Tracy found them when she returned home.

Tracy had had some very close friends in her time. But she had never found herself lying so intimately with one of her friends as Myka and Helena were doing in that moment. As she witnessed their tender display of affection, Tracy finally had to admit to herself that Myka and Helena were probably more than just friends. This was no longer simply an assumption, that Tracy was making. She had the evidence staring her straight in the face and it was time that she stopped deluding herself and faced the fact that her sister was in a relationship with a woman.

'~~~

To be continued


End file.
